The High Court of Justice on Wednesday declared the government’s daily cap of 3,000 people allowed to enter Ben-Gurion Airport as unconstitutional, but delayed implementation of its ruling to just two days before the election.
The state has been limiting how many Israeli citizens can return to the country in time for Election Day on March 23.
Though the ruling is technically a win for the Movement of Quality Government in Israel, the fact that the justices dragged their feet on the issue for weeks – and appear to be allowing the government policy to continue through this Saturday – significantly limits the practical extent to which Israeli citizens will be able to take advantage of returning to vote.
A legal brief by the state to the High Court on Monday revealed that 1,879 overseas Israelis are stranded overseas and waiting to find out if they will be allowed into the country in time to vote in next week’s election.
The brief was filed as part of an ongoing fight over whether the government can maintain limits on how many Israelis can return to the country ahead of Election Day.
Despite already issuing two interim orders to pressure the government over the issue, which has been before the court since early last week, the justices did not issue a final order until Wednesday.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel said earlier this week that with the state finally showing more flexibility about which overseas locations can send flights to Israel and with the limited number of 1,879 Israelis who want to come to vote, it saw no reason why the state is maintaining a 3,000 person-per-day limit.
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At the same time, the NGO rejected the limit on principle, continuing to note that no other country is putting such limits on its citizens returning home, let alone for the purpose of exercising their fundamental right to vote.
LAST WEEK, the court seemed to signal that it would rule against the government and order Ben-Gurion Airport to be fully opened to all Israeli citizens who wish to vote in the March 23 election.
The justices last week issued a conditional interim order demanding the government explain by this past Sunday why it was legal for it to limit the amount and schedule of Israeli voters who want to come into the country to vote.
The aggressive schedule set by the court – which stated that the government must respond by 11:30 a.m. last Sunday and the petitioners must counter no later than 2:30 p.m. – suggested that the justices might rule by Sunday afternoon or evening. Late Sunday evening, the justices ordered the state to provide a Monday update regarding the number of stranded Israelis.
However, they held off on ruling until Wednesday and delayed until Saturday for their order to go into effect, showing hesitation about how much their order might impact the coronavirus trends nationwide and appearing concerned about later being blamed for causing a fourth wave and fourth lockdown.
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