Democrats seek to bar Otzma Yehudit from election as polls show continued deadlock

The left-wing Democrats party on Monday petitioned the Central Elections Committee to bar National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit slate from running in the October 27 election, accusing the latter faction of undermining democracy, denying “the existence of the State of Israel as a democratic state,” and inciting racism.

The petition argued that Otzma Yehudit’s lawmakers had moved beyond the ideology of the late extremist rabbi Meir Kahane and were now using government power to erode state institutions.

“The representatives of Kahanism in the Knesset are no longer dealing in theory, but are using their governmental power and the immunity granted to them to crush the rule of law, violate judicial orders, refuse to recognize the authority of the High Court of Justice, harm state security and incite violent racism,” the petition said.

The petition is seen as a long shot to succeed, amid Otzma Yehudit’s relatively broad appeal among Jewish Israeli voters. A reciprocal attempt by Otzma Yehudit to ban the Democrats, filed later in the day, is also considered unrealistic.

Ben Gvir, Otzma Yehudit’s chairman, has described himself as a disciple of Kahane, whose Kach party was ultimately barred from running for the Knesset. However, he has in the past sought to distance himself from some of the extremist rabbi’s stances. Ben Gvir was convicted in 2007 of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization.

The Democrats’ petition focused on Ben Gvir’s conduct as national security minister, claiming that he “exercises governmental authority in violation of the law, systematically acts contrary to High Court of Justice decisions, issues operational instructions to the police against protesters and uses appointments to intimidate gatekeepers.”

It also highlighted Otzma’s new No. 2 candidate, former Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who was set to be indicted over her disclosure of the identity of a Shin Bet officer while promoting baseless conspiracy theories linking him to Hamas and insinuating that he bore responsibility for the October 7, 2023, attack.

The Knesset voted in June to grant Gotliv immunity from prosecution, which lasts through the end of the current Knesset’s term. After placing 20th on Likud’s election slate, following a disappointing primary result, Gotliv moved to Otzma Yehudit under a deal between the parties and was given the No. 2 slot on its list.

Otzma Yehudit hit back later Monday evening, filing its own petition to disqualify the Democrats from running.

The Otzma Yehudit petition similarly accuses the Democrats of inciting racism and undermining Israel’s character as a Jewish and democratic state.

It cites remarks by Democrats chair Yair Golan disparaging West Bank settlers and Haredim as well as a May statement in which he said, “A sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.”

Golan has claimed that he wasn’t suggesting that IDF soldiers were actually committing such acts.

Otzma Yehudit had already filed a petition asking the Central Elections Committee to disqualify the Arab-majority Ra’am party and its chairman, Mansour Abbas, alleging that the faction rejects Israel’s existence as a Jewish state and supports armed struggle against it.

Abbas has repeatedly rejected violence as a political tool and in 2021 explicitly acknowledged Israel’s Jewish character, saying the country “was born as a Jewish state” and would remain one. Last month, he described the state’s Jewish character as “a reality imposed upon us.”

Deadlocked election

The dueling disqualification bids also come as the election campaign remains locked in a persistent stalemate, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies nor the parties seeking to replace him showing a clear path to a 61-seat Knesset majority.

Separate Channel 11 and Channel 12 polls published Monday again showed neither the pro- nor anti-Benjamin Netanyahu blocs getting enough votes to win a majority in the Knesset without assistance from at least one of the Arab-majority parties.

Polls have consistently shown for months that both camps would fall short of a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat body.

In a shift, both surveys showed that a right-wing party led by former minister Yoaz Hendel and economist Yaron Zelekha would narrowly cross the electoral threshold with four seats.

The Kan public broadcaster’s Channel 11 poll gave the pro-Netanyahu and anti-Netanyahu camps 52 seats each, with the predominantly Arab parties taking 12 and Hendel and Zelekha’s nonaligned party receiving the remaining four.

Channel 12 put the anti-Netanyahu camp on 54 seats and Netanyahu’s bloc on 50, again with 12 seats going to predominantly Arab parties and four to Hendel and Zelekha.

In both polls, former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar remained the largest party, receiving 24 seats in the Kan survey and 23 in Channel 12, ahead of Likud on 20.

Both surveys also had Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism and former general Ofer Winter’s new People of Israel clearing the electoral threshold.

The results continued a pattern seen since parties submitted their final candidate slates last week: Yashar has generally been ahead of Likud, but neither political camp has been able to assemble a parliamentary majority.

Yashar’s potential partners

Yashar’s No. 2, former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, told Channel 12 that his party could sit in a coalition with Likud if Netanyahu were no longer leading the government, and even said it could govern alongside Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism if those parties accepted Yashar’s principles.

“When it comes to Likud, and also Smotrich, I would approach them if they accepted our principles,” Cohen said. “They won’t be the ruling party, but they’ll be in the coalition.”

Cohen reiterated that Yashar would not join a Netanyahu-led government, saying the prime minister had become “illegitimate” in the party’s view following the failures surrounding the October 7 Hamas-led terror attack. But he stressed that Yashar did not rule out Likud voters or the party itself under different leadership.

He drew a firm line at Ben Gvir, however, saying Yashar would not govern with Otzma Yehudit and calling its leader a “racist.”

The remarks leave it unclear whether Yashar is seriously contemplating governing with major components of the current coalition under different leadership, or is merely seeking to reassure Likud and Religious Zionism voters whom it hopes to attract from Netanyahu’s bloc.