Court criticizes candidate from Ofer Winter's party: "Acted in bad faith"

The Jerusalem District Court issued a sharp criticism on Wednesday against Adv. Eran Ben-Ari, a candidate for the "Amcha Yisrael" party led by Ofer Winter and a prominent opponent of Israel Bar Association head Amit Bachar.

Adv. Ben-Ari filed the petition alongside Adv. Yitzhak Natovich, claiming that the Israel Bar Association uses its resources to promote controversial goals, including protests against judicial reform. The court dismissed the petition outright, ruling that the two acted in bad faith and abused the legal process.

Judge Nimrod Flax determined that the petitioners failed to disclose that the actions they were challenging had been approved by votes of the National Council of the Bar, of which they are members. Furthermore, the court noted that the information presented was vague and partial, creating a "distorted picture," and that the petitioners omitted the fact that they were parties to other lawsuits regarding the same issues.

Judge Flax ordered the two to pay 10,000 shekels in costs, stating: "In this case, the petitioners violated the duty of disclosure imposed upon them in the administrative process, in a manner that amounts to a lack of good faith and reaches the level of abuse of the legal process."