High Court Rejects Smotrich’s Challenge to E1 Tender Delay

The High Court on Thursday evening rejected Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s challenge to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s instruction postponing the opening of an E1 housing tender box until after the Knesset election. The tender concerns more than 1,000 homes near Ma’ale Adumim. Justices Daphne Barak-Erez, Ofer Grosskopf and Khaled Kabub declined to intervene, citing the restraint required of government decisions during an election period. They pointed to the issue’s public sensitivity, the risk that the timing could serve election campaigning, and the possibility of constraining the next government.