Will the High Court decide?: Four senior reserve officers petitioned the High Court of Justice on Tuesday to postpone the municipal elections. In the petition, the officers claim that holding local elections on the appointed date is illogical and constitutes a slap in the face to the reservists who are at the heart of the war. According to them, the Interior Minister's decision ignores the complex situation in which military personnel are running in local authorities, and places them in moral and moral dilemmas that contradict their worldviews.
Call the municipal hotline and are forced to listen to election propaganda
The petition was filed on behalf of Lt. Col. (res.) Eldar Sivan, a division officer in the 162nd Division maneuvering in the Gaza Strip and running for head of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council, Col. (res.) Amir Ellenberg, who serves in a senior position in the Bang Division on the northern border front and is running for head of the Lachish Regional Council, Lt. Col. (res.) Lavi Zamir, who serves as a brigade commander in the Nahal Brigade fighting in the Gaza Strip and is running for head of the Lev Hasharon Regional Council, and Yaron Rosenthal, He is a reserve soldier in Battalion 55, which is at the heart of the fighting in Gaza, and is running for mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The four are represented by Advocates Ronen Shimshon and Guy Shmueli of RGS Shmueli Shimshon Law Offices and Mediation.
Attorney Guy Shmueli, who represents the petitioners, said that "it is inconceivable that while IDF forces under the command of the petitioners continue to endanger their lives in the combat zones, the commanders, who are running in the local elections, will have to be released in order to be able to conduct a campaign." The reservists are asking the High Court of Justice that the local elections be postponed by a few months or until the fighting on the various fronts comes to an end, in order to allow the IDF personnel to fulfill their first duty, which is to fight for the State of Israel at its dramatic time.
Local elections in Bat Yam 28/08/2023, photo: Yossi Zeliger
According to the petitioners, it is inconceivable that the right to vote and be elected overrides the right and obligation of significant reserve service during a multi-front war, which has tremendous implications for the future of the state. According to them, the Interior Minister's request to release the reservists running in the various authorities puts the reservists in an impossible situation in which they are required to choose between their duty to carry out war missions and the need to conduct a political campaign. According to them, "Holding elections on the date requested by the Minister of the Interior will not serve the objectives of the election campaign, which is to bring to the polls a high percentage of the public that will take part in the democratic act. The hearts and minds of the Israeli public are subject to the enormous challenges facing the IDF forces, as well as the public on the home front."
In addition, another petition is on the court table in the name of the Jerusalem Union List and Jerusalem mayoral candidate, attorney Yossi Havilio, demanding that the elections be postponed to the end of February. Deputy Mayor Adv. Havilio notes in the petition that setting the date of local elections for January gives preference to constituencies that do not serve. In the body of the request, Havilio notes that holding elections at a time when hundreds of thousands of soldiers are being drafted into the reserves is election bias, harming the integrity of the elections and violating the right to vote and be elected, and in a city like Jerusalemites that is based on a diverse population fabric that includes conscripts and non-enlisted publics, failure to postpone the elections will lead to bias in favor of the publics that do not serve.
Jerusalem mayoral candidate, Attorney Yossi Havilio, photo: Dudi Vaknin
Represented in the petition are Union List member Eran Ben Yehuda, a company commander in active reserve service, Union List member Nitzan Ron (5th place), who is also on active reserve duty, and Union List member Ms. Yochi Rappaport (8th place), whose spouse has been drafted since the beginning of the war.
Otzma Yehudit Chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir announced yesterday that his party would support postponing the municipal elections to February. In doing so, he joined the stubborn struggle of Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich to postpone the elections because of the war.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us