Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Disqualify Former Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen from Knesset

Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday rejected a petition seeking to disqualify Yoram Cohen, former head of the Shin Bet security agency, from running for the Knesset (parliament) with the "Yashar" party. The petition was filed by activists from the "Justice for Amiram" campaign, who argued that Cohen's alleged involvement in overseeing Shin Bet investigations in the Duma case, which they claim included torture of Amiram Ben-Uliel and a minor, made him unfit for public office.

The three-judge panel, led by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, dismissed the petition outright without a hearing. The court also ordered the petitioners to pay 3,000 shekels in legal costs.

The activists contended that Cohen's actions during his tenure as Shin Bet chief, including allegedly condoning the extraction of confessions through force and severe human rights violations against detainees, contradict Israel's values as a Jewish and democratic state. They had previously approached the Central Elections Committee chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg, who also dismissed their request without a hearing.

In response to the Supreme Court's decision, the "Amiram Ben-Uliel Headquarters" stated that no court ruling could erase the moral stain on Cohen, asserting that someone who oversaw such severe human rights abuses and violations of detainees' rights should not serve in the Knesset.