Following a Likud petition to the Central Elections Committee, an agreement has been reached regarding Fly&Vote and AID Coalition, initiatives to bring Israelis home from abroad ahead of the elections.
Under the agreement announced on Tuesday, prices for flights already offered through the initiative will remain as set by the airlines, but no additional flights will be sold under the program. Under the agreement, Likud’s petition was dismissed.
The days after the congestion at Ben Gurion Airport — Terminal 3
(Photo: Yuval Chen)
The agreement was reached after Justice Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee, proposed that Likud and the initiative’s organizers reach an agreement.
In its petition, Likud attorney Ilan Bombach argued that the initiative was being operated by a “foreign corporation” to “encourage Israelis living in far-flung corners of the world to come to Israel on or around Election Day to vote by providing ‘logistical support,’ including chartering aircraft for that purpose, coordinating efforts to lower airfares and providing additional services or benefits before and after their arrival in Israel.”
The organization behind the initiative countered that it provides bureaucratic information, identifies flight options and assists voters until they arrive in Israel.
The organization said the initiative is "nonpartisan" and that its sole purpose is to encourage voting and participation in the democratic process, regardless of which party a voter intends to support. According to the organization, it does not examine voters' political preferences and therefore the initiative does not constitute bribery or vote-buying.