High Court president Yitzchak Amit on Tuesday recommended that Democrats chairman Yair Golan withdraw his petition seeking security protection, indicating that the High Court does not intend to intervene in the Shin Bet’s security assessments.

The justices granted a request by the Democrats’ legal adviser, attorney Omri Segev, for representatives of the Shin Bet and the state to update him on the security arrangement being proposed for Golan. The party will then decide whether to continue seeking a ruling on the petition.

The Democrats filed the petition after Golan was “left without security” despite police placing the threat against him at a high level.

According to the petition, Golan has received dozens of specific death threats, with the party warning that “every day that passes without security leaves the petitioner as cannon fodder.” The Democrats requested a temporary order, an interim order and an urgent hearing.

“The petition exposes an absurd and life-threatening reality,” the petitioners said. “Although Israel Police raised the threat level against Yair Golan to the high level of 4 out of 6, identical to that assigned to Gadi Eisenkot, only the chairman of the Democrats has not been approved for security protection.”

The party submitted a document detailing a series of online threats against Golan, including: “Yair Golan, I wonder what kind of blood he has in his veins… He should stand trial and then get a bullet in the head”; “We’ll gouge out your eyes, you and your family will be erased… your sentence is hanging”; “I hope Yair Golan dies in terrible agony; I’ll hand out sweets that day”; “Why don’t they eliminate Yair Golan?”; and “A person like this should not be in politics — only a hanging rope.”

The petition also cited an incident in which a brick was thrown at Channel 12 News headquarters with a letter containing murder threats attached to it. Golan was named in the letter as one of the targets, and was the only party chairman included.

“Protecting Petitioner No. 1 [Yair Golan] lies at the core of the service’s mission,” the petition stated. “A candidate who cannot appear in public without risking his life is restricted in conducting his election campaign compared with candidates who do not face a similar threat. Harming a candidate because of his political positions during an election period constitutes harm to the electoral process itself.”

The petition came after Kan News reported two days ago that Shin Bet chief David Zini had approved protection by the VIP Protection Unit for Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot through the elections. The precise security arrangements are expected to be determined in the coming days.

About a week earlier, the Democrats said they would petition the High Court if Zini did not order security protection for Golan.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)