High Court rejects Otzma Yehudit bid to bump candidate up slate

The High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected a petition to allow Itamar Ben Gvir of the extremist Otzma Yehudit party to be moved up on the Union of Right Wing Parties’ electoral list.

The appeal was brought to the justices after the Central Elections Committee rejected an identical request. The bid followed the Supreme Court’s barring of Ben Gvir’s colleague Michael Ben Ari from running for Knesset in the April 9 election over racist remarks. Ben Ari had been placed in the fifth spot on URWP’s slate and Ben Gvir, who was in 8th, requested to be bumped up into his slot rather than merely automatically bumped up to 7th. Israeli law bars parties from changing their lists after they are submitted to the Central Elections Committee.

In a 2-1 decision, the High Court ruled against altering the party’s finalized list. Representing the minority opinion, conservative justice Alex Stein argued that the law does not relate to the specific scenario of a disqualified candidate and therefore an exception should be made.

“This is the last time the High Court will decide for us. After the elections, we will decide for the High Court,” URWP said in a statement condemning the ruling, referring to their plans to curtail judicial power.

In his own response, Ben Gvir suggested that the High Court’s decision was motivated by opposition to the prospect of him being appointed to the parliamentary panel that appoints judges, as part of the agreement that brought Otzma Yehudit into an electoral alliance with the Jewish Home and National Union parties.

“The judges know that unlike cosmetic changes carried out by other politicians, I’m the only one who will put an end to the High Court of Justice’s rule,” said Ben Gvir, who is himself a lawyer.

Last Monday, Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Hanan Melcer rejected the same request from the URWP, heeding the recommendation of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

The last time Mandelblit made a recommendation to the committee regarding Otzma Yehudit — that its chairman Michael Ben Ari be disqualified over his incitement to racism — the elections body disregarded his view by green-lighting the candidacy of the right-wing extremist on March 6.

However, a group of opposition lawmakers appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which, in an 8-1 decision, officially barred Ben Ari from running because of his anti-Arab ideology and incitement.