Israel’s Central Elections Committee has voted to exclude the country’s two primary Arab-majority political alliances from the parliamentary election scheduled for October 27. The decision threatens to remove Palestinian citizens of Israel from their principal representatives in the Knesset, although the final authority rests with the Supreme Court.
The committee simultaneously disqualified Ofer Cassif, a Jewish politician from the Hadash party, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the Palestinian nationalist Balad party. While the committee’s votes set the stage for a legal battle, the Supreme Court has a history of overturning similar disqualifications, though it will review the cases next week.
The move has drawn sharp criticism regarding inconsistent standards. Critics point out that while Palestinian-led parties face exclusion, candidates from far-right parties—including ministers who have faced international sanctions—remain on the ballot. Human rights advocate Ubai Al-Aboudi condemned the ruling, stating that the committee failed to bar politicians openly calling for ethnic cleansing or genocide against Palestinians.
The Excluded Parties
The ban targets the Joint List, an electoral alliance comprising Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad, as well as Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List, which runs independently. Together, these groups represent approximately one-fifth of Israel’s population.
The Joint List was formed to prevent vote-splitting among ideologically similar parties, ensuring they meet the 3.25 percent threshold required to enter the 120-seat parliament. Currently, the Hadash-Ta’al alliance holds five seats, while Ra’am also commands five seats. Ra’am previously participated in the governing coalition from 2021 to 2022, a move the Joint List declined to join.
Grounds for Disqualification
The petitions to bar these candidates were filed by the right-wing Likud and Otzma Yehudit parties, alleging that the lists denied Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state, supported armed struggle, or incited racism. The committee voted 18-5 to disqualify both the Ra’am list and the Joint List, as well as Cassif. The vote to ban Abu Shehadeh was 31-4.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara opposed the bans on the two lists and Cassif, arguing the evidence did not meet legal thresholds. However, she took a different stance on Abu Shehadeh, citing an October 8, 2023, article he published on the Arab 48 website. In the piece, she referenced his description of Hamas’s attacks as an “important historic event militarily, politically and strategically,” claiming such language could imply support for armed struggle. Abu Shehadeh has rejected this interpretation, asserting his support for a political and civil struggle for peace and equality.
Double Standards and Legal Challenges
Opposition figures like Yair Golan of the Democrats party argued that legitimizing armed struggle constitutes a “red line,” while Adalah, the Palestinian legal rights group representing the defendants, disputes the validity of the claims. Adalah notes that the petitions against the Joint List rely on outdated positions already examined by courts and that Abu Shehadeh’s article contains no call for violence.
Meanwhile, petitions to disqualify National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich were rejected. Both ministers face international sanctions for advocating the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank. Attorney General Baharav-Miara stated that bids to bar the far-right parties lacked legal basis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains eligible to run despite an ongoing corruption trial and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant related to alleged war crimes in Gaza; he denies all allegations.
Cassif, whose disqualification was previously overturned by the Supreme Court in 2019, described the latest decisions as “another nail in the coffin of the remnants of democracy” and vowed that the Joint List would still secure seats in the next Knesset. Historical patterns show that while the Supreme Court has reversed similar bans in elections dating back to 2003, the current political climate introduces uncertainty regarding the outcome.
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