From Bill aimed at stopping terror supporters running in local elections passes preliminary Knesset vote
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
A bill apparently aimed at prohibiting individuals who support terrorism or armed struggle against the State of Israel, or electoral slates that include such individuals, from running in local council elections passes a preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum 37-14
The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Dan Illouz, will be sent to the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee to be prepared for further readings.
It is extremely similar to a pair of nearly identical bills on the same subject which passed their own preliminary readings in the plenum last month, which seek to bring the Local Authorities Bill in line with an existing law barring individuals who support terror and racism from running for the Knesset.
It is likely that the three bills will be combined as they progress through the legislative process.
The plenum’s approval of Illouz’s bill also follows the passage, in a preliminary reading, of another bill changing the criteria for banning candidates from running for the Knesset, which could make it easier to push out Arab-led parties and lawmakers.
That bill, an amendment to Basic Law: The Knesset, would expand the current rule whereby candidates can only be banned from running if there is a significant body of evidence that they have supported terror, to include isolated support of acts carried out by a lone attacker and not just those by a group or enemy state.
Among the acts that would be construed as support for terror would be visiting the family of an attack suspect.
The Times of Israel Community.