Joint List Petitions to Bar Ben-Gvir From Using House Demolitions in Campaign

The Joint List submitted an urgent petition on Sunday to the head of the Central Elections Committee, demanding that Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and his party, Otzma Yehudit, along with the police and land enforcement authorities, be prevented from exploiting house demolitions and evictions in the Arab community for electoral purposes. The list stated in its petition that Ben-Gvir published a video from the site of a residential building demolition in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Al-Tur, where he appeared alongside bulldozers and police, boasting that "government bulldozers do not rest for a moment." The list added that enforcement authorities have initiated eviction files that have been pending for over twenty years, and scheduled some procedures to coincide with election day. The Joint List considers these actions to be employed for political and electoral gain. The list requested the Elections Committee to issue orders preventing Ben-Gvir and his party from using demolitions and evictions in their campaign. They also called for preventing the police and enforcement authorities from utilizing their personnel and equipment to serve this propaganda, or from scheduling demolitions and evictions to serve electoral goals. The Joint List believes the timing of these operations is intended to instill fear and despair in the Arab community and reduce their participation in voting, by carrying out demolitions and evictions shortly before and on election day. The Joint List stated in its announcement, "The policy of demolition will not intimidate us," asserting that they will not allow the exploitation of what it described as an attack on the Arab community to discourage them and prevent citizens from exercising their right to vote. They added that their response would be at the ballot box on October 27, calling for the electoral defeat of Ben-Gvir and the Netanyahu government.