Election panel says Hesder students can’t campaign, but doesn’t penalize parties

Central Elections Committee Chairman and Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg decides not to penalize the Religious Zionism and Likud parties, or the Union of Hesder Yeshivas and the Union of High School Yeshivas, following a petition by the Israel Education Watch organization over concerns that the parties’ campaigns will use students at the publicly funded yeshivas, or take advantage of other public resources.

Sohlberg says the petitioners did not demonstrate that yeshiva students had participated in election campaign activities or that the yeshivas had used public funds in election campaigns.

Sohlberg notes, however, that Hesder yeshiva students, who combine yeshiva study with military service, are indeed considered to be soldiers throughout their service, and are therefore not permitted to engage in election campaigning.

The CEC chairman orders Israel Education Watch to pay the respondents’ and state’s legal fees, because the CEC rejected another petition by the same organization just four days before its latest petition was filed, which he said was based on “many of the claims” of the first petition.

Israel Education Watch filed the petition against the backdrop of a declaration by Likud and Religious Zionism to send 2,000 activists to polling stations in Arab communities, which the group claimed would include Hesder yeshiva students.