From the Liveblog of
Monday, March 31, 2025
Knesset passes bill to bar municipal candidates who deny State of Israel
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"
Lawmakers vote 22-0 to approve the first reading of a bill to disqualify a candidate or list of candidates from running in municipal elections on the grounds that they have denied the existence of the State of Israel as Jewish and democratic or expressed support for terrorism or armed struggle against the State of Israel.
The legislation seeks to bring the Local Authorities Bill in line with an existing law barring individuals who support terror and racism from running for the Knesset.
“We are putting an end to the terrible absurdity in which terror supporters can be elected to local government,” says Likud MK Dan Illouz (Likud), the initiator of the legislation.
“My bill passed its first reading today – another step in restoring logic to governance. Those who support the murderers of Jews belong not in councils, but in prison. Public officials should serve the state – not collaborate with those who seek to destroy it.”
Lawmakers also vote 23-2 to approve the first reading of a bill to replace the term West Bank with Judea and Samaria, the biblical term for the region, in all Knesset legislation.
The legislation, by Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman, stipulates that no other term or designation other than “Judea and Samaria” will be used in legislation and that it will replace any other terminology used in existing legislation.
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