Election Committee Approves 38 Candidate Lists and Ballot Letters

The Central Elections Committee has approved the 38 candidate lists and their corresponding ballot letters for the upcoming elections, 19 days after the submission deadline. The committee, chaired by Justice Noam Sohlberg, finalized the list of parties and their designated letters, marking a significant step as the election campaign intensifies with exactly one month remaining until election day. Several major parties retained their traditional letters, including Likud with 'Mem-Chet-Lamed' (מחל), Shas with 'Shin-Samech-Aleph' (שס), and United Torah Judaism with 'Gimel' (ג).

New ballot letters were assigned to several parties, such as 'Samech' (רק) for Naftali Bennett's party, 'Dalet' (דרך) for Gadi Eisenkot's 'Yisrael' party, and 'Bet' (ב) for Otzma Yehudit. Other assignments included 'Aleph-Mem-Tet' (אמת) for Democrats, 'Nun-Yod' (כן) for Blue and White, and 'Tet' (ט) for the Religious Zionism and Identity parties.

In the Arab sector, the Ra'am party and the Joint List were approved conditionally, pending a Supreme Court decision. The committee also ruled that the Joint List is barred from participating in the elections and disqualified two of its candidates: Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh and MK Ofer Cassif.

Among the approved lists are smaller and newer parties, including 'Ayin-Chet-Kaf' (ך) for Ofer Winter's 'Amcha Yisrael', 'Nun-Yod-Yod' (ני) for Avi Maoz's 'Noam L'Yisrael', and 'Yod' (י) for Sharan Haskel's 'Yisrael T'chila'. In an unusual decision, the list 'Eden' (גן עדן) was initially denied its requested letters 'Yod-Heh' (יה) due to concerns of offending public sentiment, and was instead assigned the letter 'Heh' (ה).

With the official approval of all 38 lists and their ballot letters, the election process moves into its next phase, with parties now able to fully launch their campaigns and voters preparing to cast their ballots.