Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) has been facing harsh criticism in recent days, mainly from the Religious Zionist party, for his decision to hold municipal elections on January 30, despite the fact that many of the candidates are currently serving in the reserves due to the war in Gaza.
Arbel explained, "As soon as the law to postpone the election date was enacted, I contacted both the head of the National Security Council and the supervisor of elections at the Ministry of the Interior, and asked them to carry out comprehensive staff work," he said. "I told them that I would accept any result they brought, as long as they did extensive staff work, and I knew how to withstand the pressure. Every decision, both on postponement and non-postponement, is a political decision."
"I said that I am a political man and that I want to distance this decision from me," Arbel told Radio 103FM. "When the staff work was finished, and the IDF was also able to say that the capabilities to stand on January 30 were in place, both in terms of monitoring the elections and deploying polling stations. There will be polling stations in Gaza on 30 January and soldiers carrying out hostilities will also be able to vote. With regard to the issue of candidates, even from the point of view of the ACA, there is no impediment to releasing them for the sake of the campaign. During Cast Lead, there were also local elections, there was a petition to postpone the elections, and Justice Elyakim Rubinstein wrote that it is advisable to avoid postponing the elections because of the enemy's action."
Smotrich: "Admits guilt - we couldn't make room for bureaucracy"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionism party, said yesterday that 62 percent of the officials running in the local elections on behalf of Religious Zionism are currently in reserve. "I don't know what's going on in other parties and I'm sure everyone is mobilized for the campaign, but it is impossible and there is no democratic justification for such a fatal violation of the right to be elected."
"We are in a democracy, democracy has rules and this is a gross trampling of the rules of the game," Smotrich said. "The CEO of my party has been fighting for two months, as have most of our representatives in the various cities. There is no possibility of municipal elections during the war. This is an injustice to my public and an injustice to all those who serve. I call on the interior minister to return to the Knesset and legislate another postponement of the elections until after the war," he said.
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