Likud Not Giving Up on Camera Bill

The Likud will continue to fast-track the election camera law, despite almost sure defeat in a full Knesset vote on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Netanyahu explained on Tuesday that he plans to bring the bill to the plenum floor “to find out who supports voter fraud and who opposes it.” The bill would allow political parties to bring cameras into polling stations, which he says is needed to prevent election fraud.

On Monday, the Knesset Regulatory Committee was stalemated on a 12-12 vote after Avigdor Liberman unexpectedly dropped his support, torpedoing the majority Netanhayu had banked on.

Likud’s decision to pursue the legislation comes despite opposition from Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and Elections Committee Chairman Hanan Melcer. On Sunday, the Knesset’s legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, called the bill unconstitutional. He argued in a formal opinion that it would give an unfair advantage to the Likud Party, which already has in its possession over 1,000 body cameras that it used to surveil polling stations in Arab towns during the April election.

In any event, the elections committee plans to deploy its own inspectors equipped with cameras.