Ben Gvir and Netanyahu say they plan to end ban on racist MPs, reject democracy

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Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a request from far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir to pass legislation that will end the ban on individuals who incite racism from serving in the Knesset, as well as parties that do not do not accept Israel as Jewish and democratic, according to multiple reports Thursday.

According to unsourced reports in Hebrew language news outlets including Channel 12, Haaretz, Ynet and others, parts of Clause 7a of the Basic Law: the Knesset – which states that incitement to racism or rejection of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is grounds for disqualification from running for parliament — will be removed from the country’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws by legislation.

Likud has yet to finalize the deal with Otzma Yehudit, or any of its deals with right-wing and religious coalition partners, and is expected to do so in the coming days.

The move appears to be an attempt by Ben Gvir, the leader of Otzma Yehudit, to allow far-right allies barred from the Knesset due to racist comments and stances to contest parliamentary elections in the future.

In 2019, the High Court barred Baruch Marzel of Otzma Yehudit, Bentzi Gopstein and former party leader Michael Ben Ari from contesting elections that year, citing Clause 7a.

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Gopstein leads the racist organization Lehava, which opposes inter-religious and inter-ethnic interaction, relationships and marriages. Marzel led Rabbi Meir Kahanes Kach’s extremist party after its founders were murdered in 1990, and has long been identified with the factions’ goal of forcibly cleansing the country of Arabs.

Ben-Ari, a former MP, was warned in August that the prosecution was considering charging him with promoting racism against Arabs for several years.

Ben-Ari and Marzel have in recent months criticized Ben Gvir as ideologically flexible for apparently taking less extreme positions during his run for the Knesset.

Otzma Yehudit candidates Baruch Marzel, right, and Itamar Ben Gvir, center, arrive for a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on motions to bar their party from running in the September 2019 elections, 22 August 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Although the coalition agreements are not legally binding, if the deal were to become a reality, the trio would be allowed to run in the country’s next election cycle.

The report said Otzma Yehudit argued that the law had only been used “unevenly to target the right”.

Netanyahu reportedly agreed to the deal as part of last-minute coalition talks, which saw the new prime minister announce he had successfully formed a government minutes before the midnight deadline on Wednesday night, more than a month after receiving the mandate from President Isaac. Herzog.

Likud, Israel’s largest party and a right-wing power, will be on the left flank of the prime minister’s incoming coalition. Far-right Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism and Noam, along with Netanyahu’s longtime ultra-Orthodox partners Shas and United Torah Judaism, round out the 64-seat majority coalition in the 120-member Knesset.

Carrie Keller-Lynn contributed to this report.

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