Israel's Supreme Court overturned several decisions by the Central Elections Committee on Friday, allowing two Arab-majority parties and one lawmaker to run in the October election.
Last week, the committee, controlled by members of PM Netanyahu's coalition, voted to disqualify the United Arab List party and the Joint List – an alliance of Israel's remaining Arab parties – and lawmakers Ofer Cassif of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party and the chairman of the Palestinian nationalist Balad party, Sami Abu Shehadeh.
The court voted unanimously to overturn the committee's decision on both parties, while Abu Shehadeh told the court he is withdrawing his candidacy after court president Justice Isaac Amit signaled it is inclined to permit his disqualification.
The election committee struck down Abu Shehadeh's candidacy over an article he wrote a day after the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, which the committee said constituted support for armed struggle or the actions of a terrorist organization against Israel. The attorney general and state prosecutor agreed, and backed ratifying the committee's decision.
His withdrawal means the justices will no longer need to rule on whether a candidate can be barred from running based on a single publication rather than an accumulation of evidence indicating consistent support for terrorism.
Abu Shahadeh decided to withdraw only after the court's suggestion, Balad said, adding that it had effectively disqualified him before issuing its formal ruling. This "raises serious questions about the limits of political legitimacy afforded to Arab citizens, and about the use of disqualifications to narrow the scope of Arab political activity," the party said.
The decision on Cassif was approved with two of the nine justices opposing on the basis that his statements and actions, both directly and indirectly, could be considered support for an armed struggle against the State of Israel.
[Haaretz]
