Update: Likud Plans Court Appeal of Israel's Election Results Over Banned Voter-Tracking Apps
Netanyahu's party says Arab party activists illegally tracked turnout; the elections chief has said such claims could not change the outcome.
Learn more ›JERUSALEM —
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party plans to appeal the results of Israel's Oct. 27 election in the Jerusalem District Court, claiming Arab party activists illegally used smartphone apps to track who had voted, the party's lawyer told The Times of Israel on Saturday, Nov. 7.
See where this is ›Likud lawyer Ilan Bombach said the party's poll watchers filed 700 complaints on election day about activists using such an app. He said each complaint touched “hundreds or thousands of votes.” The appeal may challenge all or part of the result and will likely not be filed before Nov. 17, the last day appeals are allowed.
Israel's High Court banned the tracking apps 10 days before the vote. But the Civilian Election Guard, a volunteer observer group, counted 374 cases of apparently illegal app use and said Likud activists and polling-station workers made up 32% of them, more than any other party. United Torah Judaism accounted for 10%, Shas 6%, Ra'am 2% and the Joint List 1%, the group said.
Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, has said the allegations, even if true, were not large enough to affect the results, and he spoke against stigmatizing Arab voters, according to The Times of Israel. Likud and other outgoing coalition parties had sought to delay certification, which went ahead Wednesday, Nov. 4, when Sohlberg presented the results to President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem.
The appeal may also point to two police investigations reported by Channel 12. In one, three Bedouin activists were arrested on election morning on suspicion of trying to bribe voters to back Ra'am; they were released, and the case is expected to close unless new evidence turns up. The other concerns alleged foreign money for the Joint List, which is believed to have come from the West Bank.
The challenge comes as Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot works to form a government after 67 Knesset members recommended him to Herzog, compared with 46 for Netanyahu.
What we don't know yet: The Times of Israel report carried no response from Ra'am, the Joint List or other Arab parties, and Likud has not said whether it will contest the whole result or only part of it. Watchman News will report the court's response when the appeal is filed.
