Elections Committee to debate disqualification of extremist MKs

The Central Elections Committee is set to debate petitions Thursday morning calling to disqualify anti-Zionist Arab MK Hanin Zoabi (United Arab List) and extreme-right activist Baruch Marzel (Yachad) from running for the upcoming parliament.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein submitted his legal opinion Wednesday to the committee, indicating that he was opposed to the disqualification of the Knesset candidates from the political fringes.

Weinstein said that while Zoabi had in the past made “worrying remarks” that could be interpreted as offering support for terrorism, the evidence against the lawmaker was not clear-cut and did not provide sufficient cause to disqualify her.

The attorney-general issued a similar opinion regarding Marzel.

The committee, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran and comprised of representatives from the major political parties, will debate the petitions at 10 a.m.

In both cases, the petitions, filed by the candidate’s political opponents, claim that the candidate in question has violated Israeli election law – Marzel for alleged anti-Arab racism and Zoabi for alleged support for Hamas and opposition to Israel’s identity as a Jewish nation-state.

If the committee moves to disqualify the two, the Supreme Court will then have to approve the ruling.

Marzel, formerly of the Otzma Leisrael (“Strength for Israel”) party, has led marches of far-right activists through Arab towns and was affiliated with the now-banned Kach party founded by the extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Zoabi was aboard the Gaza flotilla of May 2010 that ended in a melee between activists and IDF soldiers that left 10 Turkish citizens dead and several Israeli soldiers wounded.

She insisted last year that the kidnappers and murderers of three Israeli teens last summer were not terrorists, comments that led to her six-month suspension by the Knesset House Committee from Knesset committees and debates.

Weinstein’s opinion, which was handed to the committee members ahead of the debate, is not legally binding, but as the top law-enforcement official in government who also serves as the government’s most senior legal adviser, his view may help sway the votes of committee members.

The center-left Zionist Camp list headed by Labor leader Isaac Herzog supported Zoabi’s disqualification last week, but has since retracted that position, saying it would back whatever stance the Central Elections Committee took.

The about-face is seen as a nod to the Arab parties, who are polling at between 11 and 13 Knesset seats and whose support after elections will be critical for Herzog’s ambitions to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.

The centrist Yesh Atid party threw its support behind efforts to disqualify the two extremist Knesset hopefuls from elections Wednesday.

Zoabi has been barred from running in past elections, but the disqualifications were overturned by the High Court of Justice. If the candidates are disqualified on Thursday, they are almost certain to appeal to the High Court.

The High Court has already scheduled the appeals hearings for Tuesday, February 17. With Election Day just a month later, the justices will need to rule on any appeals without delay.