Israel High Court rejects bid to ban firearms at polling stations

Israel’s High Court of Justice on Sunday rejected a petition to bar election officials and party representatives from carrying firearms at polling stations in Tuesday’s Knesset election, Haaretz and Ynetnews reported.

The petition was filed by the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Joint List. It followed an announcement on 15 October by Likud and Religious Zionism to deploy approximately 2,000 poll observers in Arab communities, Ynetnews reported.

The petitioners challenged a guideline issued on 1 October by the Israel Police Security and Licensing Division, permitting licensed polling station officials and party representatives to carry personal weapons inside polling stations, Haaretz reported. They argued that the presence of armed individuals could deter voters, heighten tensions and harm free and fair elections.

The government said the matter was for the police, who “have the authority and responsibility to determine the security arrangements required on that day”, and that it had received no information of “disruptions, disturbances or planned threats against voters”. Haaretz reported that the court denied the petition, ruling that the police’s position was that “no concrete fear of public order disturbances at the polling stations by armed officials has arisen”.

Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen criticised the ruling, saying the court “has once again demonstrated that it is neither willing nor able to protect the rights of the Arab public from persecution by the racist right-wing government”.

Sources: Haaretz, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-10-26/ty-article/.premium/arab-israelis-are-eager-to-vote-on-election-day-reality-may-get-in-the-way/000001a1-782c-d222-a3e3-7f6c457f0000 ; Haaretz live blog, https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/2026-10-25/ty-article-live/idf-announces-general-closure-for-west-bank-palestinians-on-election-day/000001a1-70f7-d34e-a1b9-feffa6f20002?liveBlogItemId=1791796608 ; Ynetnews, https://www.ynetnews.com/article/82pf4hgww