Strong
Israel, Shas and United Torah Judaism will be able to run in the upcoming
election, after petitions against them were voted down by the Central Election
Committee on Thursday.
The disqualification requests were all based on
article 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, which says, among other things, that a
party list cannot reject Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
Four
petitions against Strong Israel, by Hadash MKs, Balad lawmakers, the Coalition
Against Racism in Israel and social activist Oren Pasternak, said the party is
undemocratic because it is racist.
Jerusalem Councilwoman Lauren Wharton
(Meretz) and several women's organizations petitioned to disqualify haredi
parties from running on grounds of being undemocratic in that they exclude women
from their lists.
On Wednesday, the committee voted to ban MK
Haneen Zoabi (Balad) from running for the next Knesset on grounds of supporting
terrorism and rejecting Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. An appeal of
her disqualification will be brought to the High Court.
Read the full story