Israel’s Supreme Court has banned the leader of a far-right ultranationalist party from running in next month’s elections.
Reversing the decisions of Israel’s elections committee earlier this month, the court ruled on Sunday to bar Michael Ben-Ari, the leader of the Jewish Power party, in an 8-1 vote.
Ben-Ari has come under fire for comments he made about Palestinian citizens of Israel, which Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit previously said amount to “incitement to racism” and “calling for a violent renunciation of the Arab population’s rights”.
These include a May 2018 speech in which Ben-Ari called Israeli Arabs “enemies from within”, according to the Haaretz website.
The court ruled in favour of apellants who argued Ben-Ari had displayed anti-Arab racism, Reuters news agency reported, citing a statement by the court.
Ben-Ari condemned the ruling, according to local media. “There is a legal junta that seeks to take over our lives. It’s not a democracy,” he was quoted as saying by Haaretz.
Other members of Jewish Power remain eligible to run.
The court upheld the candidacy of Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right lawyer and fellow leader of Jewish Power.
According to Jewish Power, Ben-Ari’s disqualification marks the first time a candidate approved by the committee has been banned from standing in elections.