Election Committee Opens Hearings with Prayer for Injured Envoy's Son, Lawmaker Slams Far-Right Party

The Central Elections Committee chairman, Judge Noam Sohlberg, opened the second day of hearings on disqualification requests for the 26th Knesset with a prayer for the recovery of Sergeant Major (Res.) Neriah Leiter, son of Israel's Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter. Leiter was seriously injured on Thursday in a vehicular attack on Route 443.

"Before we begin our work, I ask to dedicate a moment together for prayer and hope," said Judge Sohlberg. "Yesterday, Neriah Leiter, a reservist, was seriously injured in a terrorist attack. He has done much for the public good. We are here and he is in the hospital fighting for his life. We join the prayers of his family and many others, praying for his recovery: 'Heal us, Lord, and we shall be healed; save us, and we shall be saved.'" A chapter of Psalms was then recited for his recovery.

Leiter, a resident of the settlement of Havat Yair in the Samaria region, was serving as part of a security detail at a roadblock when a terrorist rammed his vehicle into him. He underwent a complex, hours-long brain surgery and remains in very serious condition. Doctors at Shaare Zedek Medical Center stated his condition is stable but still critical.

During the hearing on the disqualification request against the Otzma Yehudit party, MK Gilad Kariv of the Democratic Party sharply criticized the party and its leaders. "A minister who repeatedly visits Arab towns and communities in Israel and tells the residents, 'I am the homeowner, not you,' is a racist," Kariv stated. He further accused ministers and MKs who attend memorial events for Meir Kahane and praise his ideology of being racist.

Kariv argued that disqualifying Otzma Yehudit is an unusual but necessary step given the party's "known and proven racist nature." The hearing also saw heated exchanges, with former MK Yael German comparing Otzma Yehudit to Nazism, drawing sharp rebukes from Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and MK Tali Gottlieb, who called it a "trivialization of the Holocaust."

Several disqualification requests have been filed with the Central Elections Committee, including mutual requests between Otzma Yehudit and the Democratic Party, and requests against other parties and candidates. Final decisions are expected to reach the Supreme Court.