The Interior Ministry is considering postponing local elections scheduled for 31 October this year, in light of the start of the campaign from the Hamas dance in Gaza. According to estimates by sources familiar with the details, the possibility of postponing the elections by three to six months after the end of the fighting is being considered, Israel Hayom has learned. A decision is expected in the coming days.
IDF Chief of Staff: "I know that there are many questions and great frustration, but this is a time for war" // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
A press release issued by the Interior Ministry on Saturday night said that no decision has yet been made on postponing the elections and that "the operational preparations for holding the elections on time continue as usual." According to the announcement, in light of the situation assessments conducted in accordance with the instructions of the Home Front Command, all training activities were canceled. Discussions on the issues of elections determined by the various authorities, such as the completion of the process of approving the lists, will be held on Zoom.
In a letter written yesterday (Sunday) by attorney Omri Segev, who deals with administrative law, parties, local authorities and more, to the many candidates he represents, it was written that "such a move may require a legislative change... Thus, for the time being, it is impossible to know whether it will be possible to resubmit the lists, what the economic implications are, what will happen to contracts made with suppliers in connection with the elections, and so on."
Ministry of the Interior, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
In a conversation with him, he claims that the Interior Ministry is not currently prepared to make a decision. "I understand that at the moment there is confusion in the Interior Ministry. Officials in the ministry, some of them are recruited. Besides, the Minister of the Interior has the authority, pursuant to section 5A of the Elections Law, to postpone elections to a particular local authority slightly – not to postpone elections in general. Here, in my opinion, it will require a legislative change – although perhaps the Interior Ministry will say that it is possible without. If so, then the Knesset should also convene for this – and it is in recess now. Widespread rejection has many meanings."
I mean?
As soon as the elections are postponed, the question arises whether the lists of candidates should be resubmitted, which completely opens up all elections. There are many preliminary preparations, meetings of the various election committees, and procedural and legal processes until the elections arrive. And this is something to consider. My assessment is that even if the war had ended today, which is clearly not the case, the elections would, in my opinion, have been postponed for at least two or three weeks. Therefore, every day that the operation is extended, it prolongs the move of the elections by another day."
Election signs in Kfar Saba, photo: None
"Reopen the elections"
The chairman of the election committee in one of the cities in central Israel told Israel Hayom: "It is clear that elections cannot be held at the moment while all the attention is focused on the fighting and the return of prisoners. I don't see a scenario in which people go to the polls while the country is bleeding and no candidate can now campaign. I believe the elections will be postponed. In any case, they didn't inform us anything about it."
A source familiar with the details told us: "If it is decided to postpone the elections by a month, then almost nothing needs to be changed. If you postpone by six months, you have to reopen everything – including the lists of candidates. All the processes that have been done so far will be irrelevant. There are new agendas – especially in areas that are along the seamlines. The entire public agenda is completely changing. If until two weeks ago the main discourse surrounding the elections was the effort of the protest organizations to introduce liberal lists into the local authorities, it is absolutely clear that from now on the discourse will be around personal security. This is an issue that will accompany us for at least the next year, if not more."
IDF attack in Gaza, photo: AFP
In this context, a candidate campaigner in the Negev admits that the decision also has an economic factor. "The candidates lost a lot of money," he says. "The campaign was in full swing and nipped in the bud. Elections in six months will force them to start all over again. Who will pay them that? Mayors get a lot of exposure because of the security situation. Any other candidate has probably already burned through his budget and could run into a problem. The Interior Ministry will have to address this as well."
"Everyone pays economic prices"
A strategic adviser at one of the headquarters in central Israel agrees to Israel Hayom that "there is an economic problem here – the Interior Ministry may have to solve this as well. But that's not the only area that gets hurt when there's obviously a war. The entire economy, the entire economy, was damaged, and most of the companies stopped to one degree or another, after all. War is an issue that unfortunately has a price in human lives – and very heavy economic costs."
According to the strategic adviser, "It is clear that under these circumstances it is impossible to go to elections in the midst of a war. This is irrelevant and inappropriate. All attention is given at the national level to our national goals. Even at the level of bureaucracy and the organization of Election Day, this is irrelevant at this time – especially considering that unfortunately we are probably only at the beginning of the war. You can now not head the end. There seems to be no escape from this. I don't think anyone can say how much it should be postponed, but it's clear that on October 31, the elections can't be held. So the question of where you postpone it has to do with estimates for the duration of the fighting, with the Interior Ministry's estimates of how long it will take to organize the ground for elections and also to give some reasonable time to run a campaign again."
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