Five Habayit Hayehudi primary candidates are suing the party’s court and central
election committee, according to legal documents obtained exclusively by The
Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The petitioners, MK Uri Orbach, Doron Danino,
former MK Gila Finkelstein, Shuli Mualem and Beersheba Deputy Mayor Avi
Wertzman, have asked the Tel Aviv District Court to repeal a Habayit Hayehudi
court decision to keep the fifth spot for candidates under 40 even if a woman
who fits that criteria is elected in the fourth spot, which is saved for female
candidates.
Habayit Hayehudi members will elect the party’s list for the
next Knesset in an open primary on Tuesday. There are 14 candidates
running.
The only female under 40 running in the primary is Ayelet
Shaked, who worked with newly elected party leader Naftali Bennett in Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office when he was opposition leader, and founded
the “My Israel” hasbara (public diplomacy) movement with Bennett.
Shaked
is running in the female slot against Mualem and Finkelstein.
If Shaked
wins the fourth spot and a young candidate the fifth, then whoever is left –
among Orbach, Danino, Finkelstein, Mualem, Wertzman and other candidates who do
not get the second or third slot – will place sixth or lower, which makes them
less likely to get into the next Knesset.
Recent polls have shown that if
Habayit Hayehudi runs with National Union, the party could get anywhere from
seven to 13 seats.
In October, Habayit Hayehudi’s membership panel had
set the primary rules – a return to which the five candidates are now demanding.
However, last week, following a petition by under-40 candidates Jeremy Gimpel,
Amiad Taub and Yoni Shetbon, the party’s court determined that Habayit
Hayehudi’s constitution does not allow Shaked’s potential election as a woman to
cancel the slot for young contenders.
The five candidates over 40 asked
the Tel Aviv District Court to reverse the Habayit Hayehudi court decision, on
grounds that the party’s constitution does not specify what to do if Shaked wins
the fourth spot.
In addition, the five say that the party court decision
should be voided because it was made by three judges, but the Habayit Hayehudi
constitution says five must preside over the court in appeals.
Earlier
Sunday, Dr. Yehuda David pulled out of the Habayit Hayehudi primary, because he
has cancer.
David is known for refuting claims that 12-year-old Muhammad
al-Dura was killed by IDF gunfire. He was acquitted of libel charges in February
for saying al-Dura’s father, Jamal al-Dura, sustained an injury in his hand in
an earlier incident and not in 2000, when his son died. David had treated
al-Dura’s injury at the time – in 1992 – and recognized the scar.
“I’m
sorry to say that I am leaving the race because of cancer, which was discovered
months ago. I am unable to fight both of these battles,” David told Galei
Yisrael Radio.
The doctor said he fainted on Thursday and feels he needs
to strengthen himself and his family.