Commentator Slams Supreme Court President Over Election Disqualification Case

Political commentator Amit Segal sharply criticized Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit on Thursday, following a proposal made during a hearing for Balad party head Sami Abu Shahadeh to withdraw his candidacy for the Knesset. This move could allow the court to avoid issuing a ruling on Abu Shahadeh's disqualification, as the judges indicated a majority favored his removal. Segal posted on social media that "Yitzhak Amit must start behaving like a judge and not a politician," accusing him of trying to evade a ruling. Segal drew a parallel to a previous discussion concerning the end of former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar's term, stating that Amit insisted on writing a ruling then, but now "is trying to avoid a ruling at all costs to avoid setting a precedent of applying clause 7a even to supporters of terrorism after decades of trampling the law." Segal concluded his remarks with a message to the Supreme Court President: "He should deign to write." The criticism comes amid a hearing by an expanded panel of nine judges regarding Abu Shahadeh's case, after the Central Elections Committee had already decided to disqualify him. Abu Shahadeh has now been given the opportunity to respond to the proposal to withdraw from the race.