Judge to rule whether Darkenu’s election campaign activities are political
Heir to controversial left-wing V-15, which campaigned to topple the Netanyahu government in 2015, the NGO insists it does not take sides
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Central Elections Committee chairman Hanan Melcer is set to rule in the coming days on whether the activities planned in the run-up to September’s election by Darkenu, a left-leaning civil society organization reviled by the Likud party, are political according to the terms of an amendment to the Election Funding law passed in March 2017.
The Likud-sponsored amendment was triggered by the activities of Darkenu’s predecessor organization, V-15, which campaigned to topple the Netanyahu government in the run-up to the 2015 elections. The Likud accused V-15 of inappropriate meddling in that election, a claim subsequently rejected by both a Jerusalem court and the state comptroller.
Ostensibly intended to prevent wealthy individuals from influencing elections, but slammed by the left as an attempt to limit freedom of speech, the amendment obliges citizens or groups of citizens wishing to conduct election activities outside of a political party or party-affiliated group to register with and report to the state comptroller on donations ranging from NIS 100,000 to NIS 400,000 ($28,500 to $115,000).
In this category, they will be limited to raising just NIS 11,000 ($3,150) per donor or his or her immediate family during the election campaign and to NIS 22,000 ($6,300) between elections. Groups raising more than NIS 400,000 will have to implement certain legal and organizational changes as well.
In the run-up to April’s election, Darkenu campaigned for what its executive director Polly Bronstein described to Channel 12 as the “moderate majority agenda,” which included preserving a Jewish and democratic Israel, combating racism, discrimination, radicalization and corruption, supporting social justice and civil solidarity, and supporting separating Palestinians from annexation initiatives that threaten Israel’s character.
On April 5, Melcer accepted a Likud petition claiming that Darkenu was acting politically within the terms of the law and halted its activities through election day. Melcer issued a concise version of his reasoning, promising to expand at a later date.
At the end of June, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had failed to form a governing coalition, the Knesset had voted to dissolve itself and call new elections and Melcer had been asked to serve as chairman of the Central Election Committee again, Darkenu asked to receive Melcer’s expanded reasoning, but was turned down. It petitioned the High Court against what it claimed was the mistaken reasoning of Melcer’s April 5 judgment call, after which the state prosecution stepped in and suggested to Darkenu that it seek an agreement with the state instead.
Darkenu (Our Way) canceled its High Court petition and the court approved the move to reach a deal, following which Darkenu submitted to Melcer details of the program of activities it was planning up to and including September 17.
Darkenu insists that it is apolitical. Its lawyer, Gilead Sher, told Melcer at a hearing on Monday that its aim in election campaigns is to encourage voting in general and public debate about values such as democracy and equality before the law and not to undertake any of the activities which the amendment specifies as political.
Darkenu’s director general, Polly Bronstein, added that the limitations on fundraising and expenses included in the 2017 amendment would effectively force the organization to shut down.
Avi Halevy, Likud’s legal adviser, questioned Melcer’s authority to issue a ruling on the subject, argued that Darkenu was clearly political because it was committed to toppling the Netanyahu-led government which was equivalent to toppling the Likud party — the largest party of the ruling coalition — and charged that the decision by Darkenu chairman Kobi Richter to resign in order to run for a Knesset seat on the list of the left-leaning Israel Democratic Party clearly showed that Darkenu had served him as a political launching pad.
Melcer dismissed Halevy’s attempts to link his April ruling to the one he will issue in the coming days, saying that he now had more time to consider the subject.
