The reason Lapid should be disqualified, Otzma Yehudit wrote the Central Elections Committee, is Lapid’s attacks on the haredim (ultra-Orthodox).
By GIL HOFFMANYair Lapid and Benny Gantz speaking with Blue and White Party supporters, 2019.(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
The far-right party Otzma Yehudit reacted to Blue and White MK Yair Lapid’s calls to disqualify the party from running in the September 17 election by asking the Central Elections Committee on Wednesday to reject the candidacy of Lapid.Lapid said Sunday that “Followers of [the late far-right Rabbi] Meir Kahane do not belong in a parliament under the portrait of [Zionist visionary Theodor] Herzl.”The reason Lapid should be disqualified, Otzma Yehudit wrote the Central Elections Committee, is his attacks on the haredim (ultra-Orthodox).“There is no doubt that Lapid’s statements and video clips against haredim crossed a redline long ago to clear and forbidden incitement to racism,” wrote Otzma Yehudit’s leader, attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir.Lapid responded on Twitter that Otzma’s call to disqualify him were “a badge of honor.” He noted that the party’s leaders who were calling him racist were admirers of Hebron murderer Baruch Goldstein.“It has been a long time since I got such a boost for my political path,” Lapid wrote.Ben-Gvir responded to Lapid on Twitter, accusing him of a double standard.“Yair, your hatred makes you lose your mind,” Ben-Gvir wrote. “If you would speak about Arabs the way you talk about haredim, the Supreme Court would disqualify you. You should be ashamed of yourself!”Thursday is the final day to request disqualifications from the Central Elections Committee.
