Legal Advisor Opposes Disqualification of Otzma Yehudit Party

The Central Elections Committee for the 26th Knesset began its second day of hearings on requests to disqualify the "Otzma Yehudit" party, along with the "Democrats," "Religious Zionism," and "Identity" slates, from running in the upcoming elections. The committee's legal advisor's representative stated that while the evidence against Otzma Yehudit is "very disturbing" and "very close" to crossing the line into prohibited territory, it does not meet the "critical mass" of proof required by the court to prevent a party from competing. Therefore, she recommended against disqualifying Otzma Yehudit.

This decision comes after the committee voted to disqualify Arab parties, Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, and Knesset member Ofer Cassif from the elections. The Joint List criticized the committee's actions, calling them a "trampling of the most basic rules of democracy" and accusing the "fascist right" of trying to suppress Arab voter turnout. They vowed to make every effort to overthrow the current government.

In a rare move, the committee's chairman, Judge Noam Sohlberg, participated in the vote to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. Sohlberg explained that while he usually abstains to maintain neutrality, he felt compelled to vote in this instance due to the "serious things" Abu Shehadeh said, which he found unsatisfactory, particularly concerning support for armed struggle.