Israel Can't Ban Arab Candidates From Election, Court Says

by Ferry Biedermann

A panel of 11 judges lifted a ban Thursday on two Arab Israeli members of parliament from contesting the upcoming elections. An Arab party that had been banned was also allowed to contest in the elections due January 28.

"Justice has been done and that is how the game is played in a democracy," said Azmi Bishara, the outspoken leader of the Balad party. Bishara had been barred by the Central Elections Committee (CEC) along with Ahmed Tibi of the communist Hadash party. The CEC is made up of members of the Israeli parliament and political appointees.

The vote in the CEC to ban Tibi and Bishara and his Balad party was cast along a left-right political divide. The committee went against the advice of its own chairman, Supreme Court Judge Cheschin, in what was widely seen as a political and not a judicial decision.

Tibi and Bishara were accused of supporting violence against the state because of their alleged sympathy with the Palestinian intifada. Bishara and Balad were also said to be opposed to the "Jewish character" of the state.

The uproar among the Israeli left that followed was louder because of the CEC decision to allow Baruch Marzel of the right-wing Jewish Herut party to contest the elections. The Supreme Court upheld Marzel's right to participate.

Marzel is a former leader of the banned Kach movement that professes the extreme right-wing ideology of the late Me•r Kahane. The Supreme Court accepted Marzel's statement that he had distanced himself from 'Kahanist' ideology.

The impact of the Supreme Court decision will be felt most keenly among Israeli Arabs. "There was the danger that the Israeli Arab community would not participate in the elections, and the Supreme Court did well to take us out of that bonfire," Prof Claude Klein from Hebrew University in Jerusalem told Israel Radio.

Higher Arab participation is good news for the Israeli left. Bishara and Tibi immediately called on their constituents to come out and vote on Jan. 28. This call may also help other left-wing parties.

Coming after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his right-wing Likud party's slide in opinion polls, an increased Arab vote raises questions about the election for the first time. Less than a month ago Likud enjoyed a 20-seat margin over the Labor party. A corruption scandal has since hit the party and Sharon himself. The latest polls indicate that the gap may have narrowed to just three seats.

But David Newman, professor of political geography wrote in the New York Times that "the damage to Israel's democracy has been done" and that "the Israeli Arab voters' faith in the system has been broken."

Dr Asad Ghanem, lecturer in Arab-Israeli politics at the University of Haifa says "the Supreme Court decision is a step in the right direction, but it does not mean that Arab-Jewish relations have been fixed."

Ghanem says the real damage to the Arab population's faith in the system was done in October 2000 when the police killed 13 Arab Israeli demonstrators at the beginning of the intifada.

But Ghanem sees hope in the united Jewish-Arab protests against the banning of Tibi and Bishara. "This cooperation is positive, we have to develop it further to repair the damage," he says.

In another blow to Sharon and the Likud, the Supreme Court confirmed the ban on Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz. Mofaz was high on the Likud list and was seen as an asset to the party.

The Court concurred with the CEC that by January 28 Mofaz would not have completed the required six months cooling off period after his release from the army. Mofaz was chief of staff of the armed forces until September last year.

A cooling off period is not required for ministerial positions and Sharon has said he would reappoint Mofaz as defence minister in his next cabinet. If he can halt his own slide, that is.