Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Sharren Haskel's Petition to Split from Likud

The Israeli Supreme Court dismissed former Knesset member Sharren Haskel's petition to allow her to split from the Likud party. The decision was delivered on Sunday by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Justices Daphne Barak-Erez and Alex Stein. Haskel argued that Likud and the National Right bloc had not officially united, preventing her from separating from them.

The court ruled that Haskel's objection to the merger was raised long after the original merger agreement was signed and after actions reflecting its implementation had taken place without Knesset approval. The court also noted it did not need to address Haskel's claims related to the vote for State Comptroller, as these were irrelevant to the petition.

However, in her affidavit, Haskel alleged that during the repeated vote for the State Comptroller, members of the "New Hope" faction were required to record their votes on video and present the footage to Prime Minister Netanyahu, without independent discretion. Media reports on this matter were confirmed by Haskel. Following these allegations, a police investigation was launched, and Haskel testified before the Lahav 433 unit. Investigators sought to determine whether the directive to record votes originated from "New Hope" or from Likud officials.