Former Acre Mayor Challenges Successor Over City Council Seat Allocation

Amihai Ben Shlush, former mayor of Acre and current opposition leader in the city council, filed a petition with the Haifa District Court challenging the legitimacy of his rival, current mayor Ohad Segev's, city council seat count following the March 2026 special mayoral election. Ben Shlush argues that a democratic distortion occurred in the council's composition after Segev, whose party originally won four seats in the February 2024 elections, resigned from the council before the repeat mayoral vote. His seat was temporarily filled by Inna Storozhenko. However, after Segev's victory in the special election, he returned to the council by virtue of his mayoral position, effectively increasing his party's representation to five seats, one more than the public originally granted.

Ben Shlush demands the court declare Storozhenko's term ended upon Segev's return, restoring the party's council seats to four. He claims this situation violates voter equality and alters the balance of power within the council and its committees. He further contends Segev's resignation was temporary and functional, and thus no additional mandate should be created from it.

The city legal advisor, Attorney Sivan Kimchi, rejected Ben Shlush's claims, stating there is no legal basis to prevent a re-elected mayor from serving as a council member. She added that any legal objections should have been raised before the repeat elections, not after the results were finalized.

Additionally, Ben Shlush accuses the municipality of violating council members' rights to access documents, citing repeated requests since May for financial records related to city events that have gone unanswered. He argues this refusal hampers his duties as a council member and audit committee chair, constituting a breach of municipal regulations.