Chikli disqualified from running with Likud, which vows to appeal decision

The Central Elections Committee rules to disqualify renegade former Yamina MK Amichai Chikli from running with Likud in the upcoming election.

Chikli, who was elected with Yamina but voted with the opposition since the government was sworn in last June, resigned from the Knesset in July as part of a deal to avoid elections sanctions against him over abandoning his party — which would prevent him from running with another established party, such as Likud.

But the Central Elections Committee rules that Chikli did not follow the rule to resign “close to” the date that he abandoned his original party, overturning the terms of the deal he made in a Jerusalem court in July.

Likud vows to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court — which has a history of almost always overturning such decisions.

Meanwhile, the Central Elections Committee rejected a similar petition against former Yamina MK Idit Silman, allowing her to run with Likud.