Israeli Election Committee Disqualifies All Major Arab Parties Ahead of October Vote

Israel's Central Elections Committee has voted to disqualify every major Arab-majority political party from participating in the October 27 Knesset elections. The panel barred the Ra'am party and the Joint List—an alliance of the Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad factions—along with individual lawmakers Sami Abu Shehadeh and Ofer Cassif, accepting petitions that accused them of supporting armed struggle and rejecting Israel's character as a Jewish and democratic state.[1][2]

The committee, a body composed primarily of political representatives from current Knesset factions, approved the blanket bans in a series of 18-5 votes on Wednesday. The motions to exclude the parties were driven by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit faction, alongside the Choose Life Forum.[1][2]

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara opposed the disqualification of both party lists and Cassif, stating that the petitions failed to meet the stringent evidentiary threshold required by Israeli law. Her representatives argued before the committee that the provided quotations did not establish a legal basis to prove the parties supported armed conflict against the state.[1][2]

Baharav-Miara did, however, support the disqualification of Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, whose ban passed by a wider 30-4 margin. The case against Abu Shehadeh centered on an Arabic-language article he published on October 8, 2023, which described the previous day's Hamas attacks as an "important historic event" in military and strategic terms.[1][2]

In a departure from a two-decade precedent of neutrality, the committee's chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, participated in the vote to disqualify Abu Shehadeh. Sohlberg stated that the Balad leader had failed to adequately address the allegations stemming from the October 8 publication, noting that he did not find Abu Shehadeh's explanations satisfactory.[1][2]

Ofer Cassif, a Jewish lawmaker running on the Arab-majority Joint List, was also barred by the committee. Likud's petition against Cassif cited his public support for proceedings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, arguing that his actions negated the existence of the State of Israel.[1][2]

Palestinian citizens of Israel comprise approximately 20% of the country's population, and Ra'am and the Joint List serve as their principal electoral vehicles. Ra'am, an Islamist faction led by Mansour Abbas, made history in 2021 by joining Israel's governing coalition, while the Joint List has traditionally operated in the opposition.[2]

The Joint List characterized the committee's vote as a "political, racist, and anti-democratic decision" designed to suppress Arab voter turnout and secure another term for Netanyahu's coalition. The faction stated that the disqualification was an attempt to steal the election and deny the voices of more than a million citizens.[1][2]

While the committee removed the Arab lists, it rejected a separate petition on Thursday to disqualify Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party. A representative for the attorney general had warned the committee that the evidence against the far-right faction was "very troubling and very close to the prohibited zone," but the panel allowed them to remain on the ballot.[2]

Under Israel's Basic Law, the disqualification of individual candidates and entire party lists does not take immediate effect and requires judicial review. The Supreme Court, which has historically maintained a high threshold for banning political participation and frequently overturns the committee's exclusions, will hear the appeals next week.[1][2][3]