Zeut Candidate Defends Disqualified Candidates, Criticizes Arab Parties

Arkady Mutter, a candidate for the Zeut party, has defended Moshe Feiglin and other candidates from the joint Religious Zionism and Zeut list against attempts to disqualify them from the upcoming Knesset elections on October 27. Mutter stated in an interview that the controversy surrounding Feiglin's remarks is part of a broader ideological debate and rejected the claims against him.

A petition was filed with the Central Elections Committee seeking to bar Betzalel Smotrich, Moshe Feiglin, and Zvi Sukkot, along with their joint list, from participating in the elections. The petitioners, including the organization "Zulat" and former ministers Moshe Ya'alon, Yael German, and Omer Bar-Lev, argue that grounds exist for disqualification due to alleged denial of the state's democratic nature and incitement to racism.

Mutter linked this debate to the issue of Arab parties' participation in elections. He sharply criticized some Arab political representatives in the Knesset, specifically mentioning Ra'am, asserting that certain members do not recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and hold unacceptable positions regarding Hamas. He clarified that his criticism does not extend to Arab citizens loyal to Israel, citing Yosef Haddad as an example.

Mutter also recalled the March 2019 case where the Supreme Court disqualified Michael Ben-Ari from the Otzma Yehudit party for incitement to racism, while allowing Itamar Ben-Gvir and Arab lists, also targeted for disqualification, to run. The decision on the current petition will be made by the relevant Israeli electoral law bodies.