Israeli officials announced on Monday that Salim Joubran, a Maronite Christian and the only Israeli-Arab serving on Israel’s Supreme Court, will chair the Central Election Committee overseeing upcoming polls. Joubran, a 1968 graduate of the Hebrew University School of Law, has been serving as a judge in the Israeli legal system since 1982. Meanwhile, the Knesset voted 93-0 on Monday to finalize a bill dissolving the current Knesset and officially launching the campaign for the next elections to be held on 17 March, 2015. “We have only one country, one Knesset and one democracy that is dear to us all,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said. “The public is sick of mudslinging and will have a hard time accepting more negative campaigns.” However, moments later, leaders of competing factions began making statements from the Knesset podium viciously attacking each other. Read More
