Petition to delay municipal elections filed by reservists who say January date will harm their campaign
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Four reserve IDF officers file a petition to the High Court of Justice requesting that it order Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to postpone the nationwide municipal elections scheduled for January 30, arguing that the date will create severe difficulties for reservists running for municipal office.
The petition requests that the elections be postponed for at least several months or until combat operations have ended.
“It is unthinkable that the right to vote and to be elected is overridden by the merit and obligation of reserve military duty at a time of a multi-front war that has incredible significance for Israel’s future,” the reserve officers state in filing the petition.
The reserve officers are Lt. Col. (Res.) Eldar Sivan who is serving in Gaza and is a candidate for head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council; Col. (Res) Amir Ellenberg who stationed on the northern border and is a candidate for head of the Lachish Regional Council; Lt. Col. (Res.) Lavi Zamir serving in Gaza and a candidate for head of the Lev Hasharon Regional Council; and Yaron Rozenthal, who is on combat duty in the Gaza Strip and a candidate for head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council.
The municipal elections were originally scheduled for October 31 but were postponed due to the war with Hamas in Gaza.
The High Court ordered the interior minister to respond to the petition by December 24.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convene a meeting of coalition party heads to discuss further postponing the elections.
“First, this is not a time for politics, it is a time for unity. Secondly, elections held during wartime are detrimental to reservist soldiers who are candidates in the elections,” Smotrich tells Netanyahu.