Court Brushes Off Meretz Move to Block Silman’s Likud Run

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – The High Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal to block former Yamina MK Idit Silman from running for the Knesset on the Likud list.

The Meretz party, one of the petitioners, heeded the advice of the judges to withdraw its appeal, as they said they were likely to rule against it. But the Movement for Quality Government (MQG) insisted on a formal ruling, which, as expected, came out negative.

Meretz and MQG wanted to have Silman disqualified on the basis of reports that she had made a deal with the Likud Party to quit the coalition in return for a guaranteed place on its slate for the November 1 elections, which would have been in violation of the law. She denied the charges, maintaining that she resigned due to finding herself at odds with the coalition’s center-left and in some cases anti-religious stances.

In its own decision to reject the petition last week, the Central Elections Committee noted that the law does not mandate sanctions for such actions.

The justices on Thursday opined that disqualifying Silman from running would unduly violate her right to be elected.

In addition, it was noted that her former party, Yamina, had not filed to disqualify her, and that other parties, in this case Meretz, did not have standing to do so.

In the coming days, the High Court is also preparing to rule on disqualification petitions against former Yamina MK Amichai Chikli in a case similar to Silman’s, and the Balad party, which has been accused of actions subversive of the state.