Israel’s Supreme Court overturns election panel ban on Arab parties — SkimNews
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- Israel's Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Central Elections Committee's disqualification of Ra'am and the Joint List alliance (Hadash, Ta'al, Balad) ahead of the October 27 Knesset vote, ruling the exclusion had not met the legal requirements for banning parties.
- The court also voted 7-2 to reinstate Jewish Knesset member Ofer Cassif of Hadash, an outspoken critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians; the two dissenting justices argued he backs "armed struggle against the state of Israel."
- Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew from the race after Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit told him a majority of justices favored disqualifying him; National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had pushed to bar him over a post-October 7 article in which he called the Hamas attack "an important historical event."
- Critics accused the September election committee vote of double standards, noting Palestinian-led parties faced exclusion while far-right parties whose ministers have been sanctioned internationally remained on the ballot.
- Ra'am is running its first-ever Jewish Zionist candidate, Yoav Segalovitz, after making history in 2021 as the first Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition.
- Abu Shehadeh said the reinstatement did not legitimize the original disqualification, calling it a "historical catastrophe for democracy" and saying he withdrew because he "didn't have any other choices."
Why it matters: With Palestinian citizens of Israel making up roughly 20% of the population, the ruling preserves Arab-led political representation in the October 27 Knesset vote. But Abu Shehadeh's forced withdrawal — and the 7-2 vote against Cassif — show that the disqualification machinery still does its work even when the Supreme Court ultimately reverses the outcome.
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