State to High Court: Disqualify extremist Otzma Yehudit candidate

Representatives from the State Prosecutor’s Office are urging the Supreme Court to bar Otzma Yehudit chairman Michael Ben Ari from running in the upcoming elections.

Arguing that the former National Union MK has been inciting racism, Aner Helman says that Ben Ari, in his recorded speeches throughout the years, does not differentiate between Arabs. He says that to Ben Ari, Arabs “have no faces, they are all traitors, a fifth column, and a murderous nation.”

Justice Uzi Fogelman highlights a protest-rally Ben Ari led in the northern town of Afula against a tender that was open for Arab Israelis. “What context of national struggle is there in this case concerning a citizen who wants to live in Afula?” Fogelman presses.

Ben Ari’s legal representative Yitzhak Bam asserted that his client has “no problem” with Arab Israelis who are loyal to the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people.

Asked if 99% of Arab Israelies are considered “enemies,” Ben Ari’s attorney confirmed, “that’s the logic.”