Israel’s Supreme Court has barred two far-right activists from participating in the country’s upcoming election, citing their anti-Arab racism.

Ben Zion Gopstein and Baruch Marzel, both part of the far-right “Otzma Yehudit” (Jewish Power) list, were banned from standing as candidates by a court decision on Sunday.

Mr Gopstein is best known as the leader of Lehava, a far-right organisation which styles itself as “anti-assimilation”. It opposes any marriages between Jews and non-Jews, as well as any coexistence initiatives between Jews and Arabs.

Baruch Marzel is the former leader of the Jewish National Front party. A former protégé of the far-right Rabbi Meir Kahane, he served as a spokesperson for Kahane’s organisation, Kach, for a decade, until it was outlawed as a terror organisation by both the US and Israel.

However, the Supreme Court stopped short of banning the entire Jewish Power list from running, as well as candidates from the Arab Joint List who have expressed support for terrorism.

The Israeli Central Election Committee has also banned the use of cameras at polling stations on election day.

In April’s general election, representatives of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party were found to be monitoring cameras at polling stations in Arab neighbourhoods; while Likud claimed that the cameras were there to monitor supposed electoral irregularities but it was widely seen as an attempt at voter suppression.

The Central Election Committee has permitted its own representatives to monitor the voting process at polling stations around the country.