"The moral stain remains": High Court rejects petition against Yoram Cohen

Israel's High Court of Justice summarily dismissed a petition to disqualify the candidacy of former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, who is running for the Knesset on behalf of the "Yashar" party. The petition was filed on the grounds of his involvement in leading Shin Bet investigations in the Duma case, where torture was used against Amiram Ben Uliel and a minor. The panel, headed by President Isaac Amit, rejected the petition without a hearing and imposed costs.

Israel's High Court of Justice today (Sunday) summarily dismissed a petition to disqualify the Knesset candidacy of former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, who is running on behalf of the "Yashar" party. The petition was filed by a group of activists from the "Justice for Amiram Headquarters" through attorney Rhavia Filts, claiming that Cohen was involved in leading the torture of Amiram Ben Uliel and a minor during the investigations of the Duma affair. The panel of justices, headed by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and including Justices Ofer Grosskopf and Khaled Kabub, rejected the request without holding a hearing and imposed court costs of 3,000 shekels on the petitioners. This followed the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Justice Noam Sohlberg, having struck down their original application without a hearing. The headquarters of Amiram Ben Uliel responded: "A person who authorized a severe violation of human rights... is not fit to serve in the Knesset of Israel. No decision of the High Court will cleanse the moral and ethical stain that lies on Yoram Cohen."