The Supreme Court on Sunday accepted the petition of the Likud Party and determined that Amichai Chikli will be permitted to run on the Likud slate for the 25th Knesset.
Eight of the judges in the panel ruled in favor of Chikli. Judge Ofer Grosskopf opposed the approval of Chikli's candidacy and remained in a minority opinion.
Chikli said in response, "I welcome the judges' decision, justice has been served. Now I am looking ahead to the victory of the Likud and the national camp."
The Central Elections Committee recently decided to disqualify Chikli from running on the Likud slate.
The Knesset House Committee voted in April in favor of declaring Chikli a defector from the Yamina party.
The declaration would have barred Chikli from running in the upcoming elections in any Knesset party which currently exists. In July, however, Chikli reached a deal with the Jerusalem District Court which stipulated that he would resign from his Knesset seat in exchange for not being sanctioned in the upcoming election.
This past Thursday, the Supreme Court held a hearing on the Likud party's appeal against Chikli's disqualification, before reaching its decision on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Idit Silman and Balad will also be able to take part in the election, after the judges criticized the disqualification of the Balad Party by the Central Elections Committee as well as the petition filed against Silman’s candidacy by Meretz, which resulted in Meretz withdrawing its petition.
On Sunday an expanded panel of nine Supreme Court judges unanimously accepted the petition filed by Balad against its disqualification. Judge David Mintz wrote in the minority position, "My opinion was and is still the same today, that the Election Committee's decision to disqualify the Balad slate must be approved." Ultimately, Mintz aligned with the opinion of the rest of his colleagues.
The chairwoman of Meretz, Zehava Galon, whose party filed the petitions against Chikli and Silman, said on Sunday, "The guaranteeing of spots for Chikli and Silman in the Likud is governmental corruption. Even if the court ruled that it is kosher, it is corrupt and it stinks. Anyone who is intelligent enough understands what happened here: Votes and defections were bought in exchange for promises of guaranteed spots on the slate. The corrupt operate in crooked ways, so we knew in advance that the chances of winning were not high."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)