Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir will be able to participate in the March elections, Head of the Central Elections Committee Justice Uzi Vogelman decided in a Friday ruling.
The ruling was in response to a challenge by the Israeli Pirate party, which presented the court with 1994 video clips in which Netanyahu was shown in a protest that included a mock coffin for then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Ben Gvir presenting a piece from Rabin's car as he says: "If we got to this, we can get to the prime minister."Rabin was murdered in 1995 by Yigal Amir.
The Pirate party requested Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir be removed from their respective lists according to a Basic Law clause which states that list members are not allowed to run for office if they "incite racism" or "deny the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."
Vogelman claimed that the request filed by the Pirate party did not meet the basic requirements of due process.
Netanyahu signed a vote sharing agreement with the Religious Zionist Party of MK Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir, with Otzma Yehudit included within the Religious Zionist party.