Urgent Petition Seeks to Disqualify Former Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen from Knesset Race
An urgent petition has been filed to disqualify former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen from running for Knesset with the Yashar! party over allegations of illegal interrogation methods in 2015.
Urgent Petition Filed with Central Elections Committee
Just days before the deadline for submitting party lists, a major political-legal drama has unfolded in Israel. On Sunday, an urgent petition was submitted to Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, demanding the disqualification of former Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen from running for the Knesset.
Cohen is running as a candidate for the Yashar! party, led by Gadi Eisenkot. The petition was filed by attorney Zehava Gur on behalf of the "Justice for Amiram" campaign, alleging severe and illegal conduct during Cohen's tenure as head of Israel's internal security service.
The Duma Arson Investigation at the Center
At the heart of the petition is the investigation into the 2015 Duma village arson attack. The petitioners argue that Yoram Cohen authorized the use of "special measures"—which they define as torture—against the primary defendant, Amiram Ben-Uliel, and another minor detained in the case.
The petition claims these measures were authorized without any intelligence indicating an immediate threat, thereby violating the strict legal boundaries of the "ticking bomb" exception.
According to the filing, the detainees were held in absolute isolation for 17 days and denied access to legal counsel, while Cohen allegedly presented a false narrative of urgent security necessity to judicial authorities to secure approval for physical pressure.
Allegations of Systemic Misconduct
Beyond the Duma case, the petition references other investigations, including the interrogation of Khalil Namri and Ashraf Salaymeh regarding a suspected terror plot in Eilat, which later proved to be a case of mistaken identity. The petitioners argue that the harsh interrogation methods used in that case demonstrate a systemic pattern of behavior rather than an isolated incident.
Based on these allegations, the petitioners are calling on the Central Elections Committee to disqualify Cohen under Section 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, asserting that his actions contradict the democratic values of the state.
Attorney Zehava Gur, representing the petitioners, stated:
"Today, an urgent request was submitted to the Elections Committee by members of the 'Justice for Amiram' campaign to disqualify former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen from running for the Knesset. The petition exposes unlawful conduct, including bypassing High Court rulings, misleading the judiciary, and obtaining confessions through physical pressure. Anyone who led such a system is unfit to serve in Israel's parliament."
