Likud against Sharren Haskel: The agreement with New Hope was not violated

First publication: The Likud submitted today (Wednesday) to the Supreme Court, on its own behalf and on behalf of New Hope (Tikva Hadasha), their response to the petition of MK Sharren Haskel, which seeks to compel the parties to complete the official merger process between the two factions. In the response, the parties request to dismiss the petition at the threshold, arguing that there is no violation of the agreement signed between them, and that in any case, it is a political agreement that is not legally enforceable.

In the response submitted to the court, it is written that the Likud and New Hope decided jointly to fulfill the agreement "in a different way" than that determined in section 3 of the merger agreement. According to them, this is not a case where one party violated the agreement and the other party seeks to enforce it, but rather a joint decision by both parties to change the manner of its implementation. Therefore, it is argued, there is no legal basis to force the execution of a specific clause in a political agreement whose implementation method the parties themselves chose to update.

It is further written that the formal merger process was indeed not completed, and therefore the "actual merger date" set in the agreement did not occur. However, according to the Likud and New Hope, this does not constitute a breach of commitment, as the parties are entitled to change their agreements and reach new understandings, and a previous agreement does not bind their political discretion.

Haskel's petition was filed after she resigned from her position as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and established the "Israel First" party. She claims that the Likud and New Hope are effectively operating as a single faction, but are intentionally avoiding the completion of the official merger process to prevent her from splitting as an independent faction and receiving the party funding due to her by law. Haskel asked the Supreme Court to order the completion of the official merger and to recognize her rights accordingly.

As part of the response, the Likud also addressed another claim raised by Haskel, according to which members of New Hope were required to photograph their vote in the election of the State Comptroller and present the documentation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The party rejected the claim entirely and argued that it is "devoid of any basis." According to the response, affidavits from the acting CEO of the Likud and from MKs had already been submitted in previous proceedings, stating that the photographs were taken solely at the initiative of the MKs, without any demand from the Likud or the Prime Minister. It was further emphasized that Haskel did not attach an affidavit on her behalf in those proceedings, and even now did not specify who, according to her, demanded that she perform the photography, and therefore there is no room to attribute weight to this claim.