Otzma Yehudit candidate Baruch Marzel, who was barred by the Central Election Committee (CEC) to run in the March 17 elections for the 20th Knesset, has appealed his decision Monday to the Supreme Court.
Marzel asked in his appeal, filed through his attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, to dismiss outright the request to bar him for 'racism,' due to the fact that the group who had filed the injunction against him was not a legal entity, and that therefore they could not have submitted it to the CEC.
He also argued that the "factual" evidence the petitioners brought against him does not hold up to scrutiny, as it included newspaper clippings and internet printouts that he said had been purposely distorted by the applicants.
For example, he said, some of the quotations against him in captions in these articles are false, and Marzel added that he has audio recordings to verify that.
Moreover, he said, a legal ruling cannot rely on media coverage alone.
Ben-Gvir, speaking on Marzel's behalf, also attacked the CEC for ignoring Marzel's deposition as well as Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein's stance; Weinstein recommended throwing out the petition.
He also argued that there is no connection between the barring of Balad MK Hanin Zoabi by the CEC for the same reasons, and that there is no comparison to the two; that Marzel is a faithful Jew and Zionist, who works for Israel and the IDF, whereas Zoabi has been linked on multiple occasions with Hamas and other terror groups seeking to destroy Israel.
Marzel, in submitting another response to the petition last week, noted that the examples given against him show that his opposition to anti-Israel sources is not related to race, as seen in criticism the petition says he made against two MKs of the communist Hadash party, one Arab and one Jewish.
Another key element in the petition was regarding Marzel's refusal to shake hands with Joubran when submitting the Ha'am Itanu party list. Marzel noted he did this not because of Joubran's race but because of what he considers to be his anti-Israel and anti-IDF bias, and that likewise he didn't shake the hands of Jewish judges present who he also considers to be opponents of Israel.
In light of the evidence, Ben-Gvir has asked the Supreme Court to throw out the case against Marzel.