Dr. Aryeh Barkat sharply criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to suggest that the Knesset repeat the election for state comptroller. In a weekly column on Channel 7, he said the lawmakers’ filming of their ballots was a “childish and foolish act,” but not one that justified judicial intervention.
The court moved after MKs were filmed voting, arguing that the process violated the secrecy required in elections. Barkat, whose son Ohad Barkat was killed in a 1995 Wadi Kelt bombing, said the issue was not a legal matter and should not concern the court or, in his words, “the redheaded serial petitioner against decisions of the right-wing government,” an apparent reference to Eliad Shraga, head of the Movement for Quality Government.
Barkat argued that the secrecy law is meant to protect voters from unfair pressure, while also preserving a voter’s right to publicize or document a ballot whenever he or she chooses. He said the only relevant question was whether Likud lawmakers filmed themselves because of outside pressure from the prime minister or someone acting on his behalf.
According to Barkat, those possible coercion issues were not examined in court, at least as reported. He concluded that the Supreme Court’s intrusion into the personal affairs of Likud voters was improper and should be canceled immediately, ending with a call for the judiciary to “restrain themselves” from trying to undermine government decisions.
