Justice Minister Levin Slams Supreme Court Over Election Rules Decision

Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Thursday evening responded to a Supreme Court ruling that overturned a Central Elections Committee decision regarding the use of "Elector," a system that allowed party representatives at polling stations to update their parties on who had voted. The ruling prevents parties from receiving real-time updates on voter turnout from polling stations.

Levin accused the Supreme Court justices of interfering in the upcoming elections, stating, "Supreme Court justices know that the elections are about who will appoint ten Supreme Court justices in the next government, me as Justice Minister in a Netanyahu government or the Justice Minister in a [Yair] Lapid-Gantz-Abbas-Tibi government." He asserted that the court is attempting to halt the "wave of change" he initiated and prevent the completion of his judicial reform.

"In a desperate move, they are changing the rules of the game mid-game, contrary to all their rulings in other cases," Levin claimed. "They are harming the integrity of the elections and inventing new rules that never existed, with the aim of suppressing votes and trying to regain control of the country." He vowed that the right-wing would turn out in large numbers to vote and win, completing the reform and ending the "takeover by a handful of judges."

The Supreme Court's decision, written by Justice Yael Willner and agreed upon by Justices Alex Stein and Khaled Kabub, stated that the Elector system allows parties to identify potential voters who have not yet cast their ballots, enabling them to encourage them to vote. The court found this practice illegal due to a lack of legal authority, a violation of the right to privacy, and a breach of the prohibition against sharing voter information under the Privacy Protection Law. The court also ruled that the Central Elections Committee lacks the authority to approve such practices without explicit legal authorization.