Israel Court Reinstates Arab Parties on Ballot — SkimNews
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- Israel's Supreme Court unanimously overruled an electoral committee of MPs and reinstated the United Arab List (Raam) and a second Arab party on the Oct 27 ballot, days after the committee had disqualified them in September.
- The court also voted 7-2 to reinstate Ofer Cassif, a far-left Jewish MP and critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians; the two dissenting justices said he supported "armed struggle against the state of Israel."
- Sami Abu Shehadeh of the left-wing Palestinian Balad Party withdrew his candidacy after Thursday's hearing suggested justices would uphold his ban, which rested on an article he wrote after Hamas's Oct 7, 2023 attack calling it an "important historical event" (he denied supporting the attack).
- National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led the disqualification push and called Abu Shehadeh's exit "a tremendous victory," though he said he wished the court had ruled against him directly.
- Raam made history in 2021 as the first Arab party to join an Israeli government; this cycle it is running Jewish Zionist candidate Yoav Segalovitz, and analysts cited in the source say his inclusion could make it easier for Netanyahu's rivals to forge an alliance with Raam and its leader Mansour Abbas.
- Adalah, an Israeli Arab rights group, called the disqualification bid an attempt "to delegitimise Palestinian citizens and their parliamentary representatives and to turn racism against Palestinians into electoral propaganda."
Why it matters: The court cleared the path for Arab parties to remain potential kingmakers in the Oct 27 vote, and Raam's unprecedented inclusion of a Jewish Zionist candidate could give Netanyahu's rivals a fresh opening to assemble a coalition. At the same time, the disqualification fight shows how post-Oct 7 language has become an electoral litmus test — Abu Shehadeh's ban hinged on a single article written the day of the attack.
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