Israeli Election Committee Receives Petitions to Disqualify Parties

Israel's Central Elections Committee announced it has received petitions seeking to disqualify the Ra'am, Religious Zionism and Identity, Otzma Yehudit, and Democrats parties, as well as candidate Yoram Cohen, from running in the upcoming Knesset elections. The deadline for submitting such petitions against lists and candidates who registered on the first day has passed. Tomorrow, petitions can be filed against those who registered on the second day.

Otzma Yehudit, Likud, and the "Choosing Life" Forum submitted three petitions to disqualify Ra'am. The Democrats and the Zulat Institute filed petitions against Otzma Yehudit, while Otzma Yehudit petitioned to disqualify the Democrats. Uri Bechor sought to disqualify the Religious Zionism and Identity list, and Ziv Moscowitz and others petitioned to disqualify Yoram Cohen.

The committee also rejected outright petitions to disqualify the "Israel First" list led by Sharen Haskel and Yair Golan. Petitions by the Democrats and Zulat to disqualify Itamar Ben-Gvir, Tali Gottlieb, Limor Son Har Melech, and Hananel Dorfman were also dismissed. The Democrats' additional requests to disqualify Amichai Eliyahu, Yitzhak Kroizer, and Tzachi Eliyahu were similarly rejected.

The Democrats' petition against Otzma Yehudit argues the party harms democracy, denies Israel's existence as a democratic state, and incites racism. The petition specifically targets National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his past convictions for incitement and support of a terror organization, and accusing him of abusing his authority, defying court rulings, and using appointments to intimidate oversight officials. It also criticizes MK Tali Gottlieb for allegedly endangering national security by revealing the identity of a Shin Bet operative while promoting a conspiracy theory about pre-October 7th Hamas collaboration.

In separate news, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps reported that an oil tanker exploded and caught fire after being struck by mines in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Fars news agency. The timing of the incident was not specified. Additionally, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense announced that the danger in Najran has passed.