Election Committee Erupts Over Nazi Comparison to Far-Right Party

A heated confrontation erupted during the Knesset Central Elections Committee's deliberations on Thursday when former MK Yael German compared the far-right Otzma Yehudit party to Nazism. The committee, chaired by Judge Noam Sohlberg, was discussing petitions to disqualify various lists and candidates from running in the upcoming elections.

Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and MK Tal Gottlieb of Otzma Yehudit strongly condemned German's remarks, calling it a "trivialization of the Holocaust" and stating she should be ashamed for disrespecting the six million Jews murdered during the Shoah.

The committee's discussions follow its decision the previous evening to disqualify the Ra'am and Joint List parties from the Knesset race. Meanwhile, Otzma Yehudit itself faces two disqualification petitions, one filed by the organization "Zulat for Alternative Housing" and another by the "Democrats" movement, founded by the Labor Party.

Otzma Yehudit has also filed its own petitions, seeking to disqualify the "Democrats" list led by Yair Golan, and separately, to disqualify Sami Abu Shahadeh. In addition to these candidate and list disputes, Judge Sohlberg rejected a petition from the "Justice for Amiram" campaign that aimed to disqualify former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen.