Itamar Ben-Givir, the veteran right-wing activist who is number five on the Otzma Yisrael ticket and also the party�s representative to the Central Election Committee, blames the committee�s decision on Shas.

On Tuesday 12 Teves 5773 the committee heard an appeal from Otzma Yisrael after disqualifying the party�s election campaign for being racist in an earlier decision.

Ben-Givir explained that most of the members of the committee are right-wing, and clearly the decision to disqualify its campaign �makes no sense�. He insists the disqualified election slogan �Loyalty; no obligations, no privileges� is not racist, and not intended against Arabs, but directed at the population at large. �It is a legitimate demand in a democratic society� he insists.

Fearing the outcome of the appeal based on earlier experience Ben-Givir asked the senior Shas representative to the committee Yehuda Avidan how he was going to vote, quoting the latter as saying �don�t worry � we are behind you.� Ben-Givir reports that he later learned one of the Shas delegates to the committee voted with the left-wing.

Ben-Givir reports that he learned that Shas delegates absented themselves from the vote and/or abstained for the most part, together with Likud MK Ofir Akunis, resulting in the 11-8 defeat and the disqualification of the party�s campaign.

�Once again, at the last moment, Shas sides with the left-wing. I would expect a party looking for right-wing votes in the election to stop these games once and for all. Deri did it with [the] Oslo [Agreement vote] and while today�s vote was not on the same level of importance, it delivers the same old message. When it comes down to the wire, Shas sides with the left� Ben-Givir concluded.

(YWN � Israel Desk, Jerusalem)