A preliminary decision by the chairman of the Central Elections Committee paves the way for MK Tali Gottlieb's transition from Likud to Otzma Yehudit.
The chairman of the committee, Judge Noam Solberg, ruled today (Thursday) in an opinion that a Knesset member who announced his intention to run on behalf of another party will not be considered to have left his faction and will not be required to resign from the Knesset - provided that his original faction has expressly approved this in writing during the 90 days preceding the elections, and that he continues to subject himself to factional discipline.
The ruling is based on an interpretation of Section 6A of the Basic Law: The Knesset.
According to this section, an elected official who resigned from his party and did not submit his resignation from office near the date of his resignation is prevented from running in the subsequent elections as part of a candidate list of an existing party represented in the current Knesset.
The issue was brought to the attention of the committee chairman following a request from MK Eitan Ginsburg of Blue and White, who had already informed his party leaders in May that he would not be included on its list for the next elections.
An agreement was reached between the parties that Ginsburg would continue to act according to the faction's position and that it, for its part, would not demand that he be declared a quitter.
Later, on August 9, MK Ginsburg publicly announced that he intended to run in Bennett's and Lapid's party. In order to clarify his legal status ahead of time and before the lists were submitted, he contacted the chairman of the Elections Committee to request an early opinion on the question of whether he was required to resign.
In his legal analysis, Judge Solberg noted that the purpose of the retirement arrangement is to address cases in which a de facto disconnection has occurred between a Knesset member and his faction, and that a public declaration of running for an alternative party is often evidence of such a disconnection.
However, the judge emphasized that the resignation mechanism is intended to regulate the internal relationship between the faction and the MK. Therefore, when the faction gives its express written consent during the 90-day period before the elections, and the MK maintains factional discipline, the notice itself should not be seen as a resignation.
In accordance with this determination, the committee chairman summarized his opinion and determined that MK Ginsburg is not defined as retired.
The judge's opinion will be presented before the Central Elections Committee plenary, which will determine its position on the matter.
