Itamar Ben-Givir, the veteran right-wing activist who is number five on the Otzma Yisrael ticket and also the party’s representative to the Central Election Committee, blames the committee’s decision on Shas.

On Tuesday 12 Teves 5773 the committee heard an appeal from Otzma Yisrael after disqualifying the party’s election campaign for being racist in an earlier decision.

Ben-Givir explained that most of the members of the committee are right-wing, and clearly the decision to disqualify its campaign “makes no sense”. He insists the disqualified election slogan “Loyalty; no obligations, no privileges” is not racist, and not intended against Arabs, but directed at the population at large. “It is a legitimate demand in a democratic society” he insists.

Fearing the outcome of the appeal based on earlier experience Ben-Givir asked the senior Shas representative to the committee Yehuda Avidan how he was going to vote, quoting the latter as saying “don’t worry – we are behind you.” Ben-Givir reports that he later learned one of the Shas delegates to the committee voted with the left-wing.

Ben-Givir reports that he learned that Shas delegates absented themselves from the vote and/or abstained for the most part, together with Likud MK Ofir Akunis, resulting in the 11-8 defeat and the disqualification of the party’s campaign.

“Once again, at the last moment, Shas sides with the left-wing. I would expect a party looking for right-wing votes in the election to stop these games once and for all. Deri did it with [the] Oslo [Agreement vote] and while today’s vote was not on the same level of importance, it delivers the same old message. When it comes down to the wire, Shas sides with the left” Ben-Givir concluded.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)