Agree or not, Chevron resident Baruch Marzel, a poll watcher for the Ichud Leumi Party, is planning to attempt to take up his position in an Um el-Fahm polling station tomorrow, Tuesday, Election Day.

Responding to statements from police that they plan to prevent him from entering the Israeli Arab municipality, he stated, “Once again we see police capitulating to Arab threats of violence, sending a message of weakness and capitulation”

Marzel maintains that after the court rejected a request by police to ban him from his Election Day assignment, police do not have the right to circumvent the court under the guise of “endangering the public” or any similar reasoning.

Elected officials in the Israeli Arab municipality met last week and announced they have also decided Marzel is unwelcome and as such, they will prevent him from entering the community.

Interestingly, Arab poll watchers from the Ra’am-Ta’al list are scheduled to present themselves in Yishuv Bet El in Shomron on Election Day, which does not seem to arouse the ire of police.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)