JERUSALEM - Israel's election board has approved far-right Jewish candidates accused by rivals of racism for next month's election while disqualifying an Arab party that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said supported terrorism.
The elections committee, made up of members of the outgoing parliament, struck down motions that had sought to bar as racist Jewish Power's Michael Ben-Ari and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who are adherents of late anti-Arab rabbi Meir Kahane. The Supreme Court did reinstate Balad after it was disqualified in 2009, when it ran separately in a parliamentary election.
His alliance has brought rare censure from the U.S. pro-Israel lobby and normally staunch Netanyahu backer AIPAC, which called Jewish Power a"racist and reprehensible party."