Israel’s Supreme Court began hearing appeals Thursday against decisions by the nation’s Central Elections Committee to disqualify Arab electoral lists and candidates from the October 27 Knesset election.
The court advised Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Balad party, to withdraw his candidacy by Friday, indicating that a majority of justices favor disqualifying him if he does not step aside. Abu Shehadeh, a historian from Jaffa who previously served in parliament from September 2019 until November 2022, faced accusations of sympathizing with Hamas and not condemning certain violent events. He denied these allegations at the hearing, stating his comments may have been misinterpreted and that he opposes violence.
The elections committee previously voted to disqualify the country’s two major Arab-majority political lists—Ra’am and the Joint List, an alliance comprising Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad. The committee also moved to disqualify parliament member Ofer Cassif, a Jewish politician from the Hadash party. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose party petitioned for Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification, appeared in court and argued against his candidacy. The Attorney General supported disqualifying Abu Shehadeh based on an article he published, though she opposed disqualifying Cassif and the Joint List.
Analysts noted the significance of the attempted bans. The disqualification of Ra’am is considered particularly notable given the party’s previous participation in coalitions and its inclusion of Jewish Israeli politicians. Experts characterized the broader effort to disqualify Arab representation as an unprecedented precedent. The proposed disqualifications would leave Palestinian citizens of Israel without major representation options in the next parliament, potentially affecting approximately 20 percent of Arab citizens.
Historically, Israel’s Supreme Court has overturned Central Elections Committee decisions targeting Arab lists and lawmakers.
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