Israel’s Central Elections Committee on Wednesday voted to bar MK Ofer Cassif of the Arab Joint List from running in the Oct. 26 elections for the 26th Knesset.
The committee voted 19-5 to disqualify Cassif, with two members abstaining, following a petition alleging that the Hadash lawmaker supports armed struggle against Israel and rejects the country’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.
Cassif, who is No. 6 on the Arab Joint List slate and its only Jewish candidate, rejected the allegations.
“Presenting my opposition to the government’s policy and the actions of its agents as support for the enemy, a breach of loyalty, and harm to the state is a blatant distortion of reality and a complete distortion of the spirit of democracy,” he said.
“Opposition to crimes committed in the name of the state does not go against its interests and does not strengthen its enemies,” Cassif added.
The petition invoked Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, which provides grounds for barring candidates or lists, including negation of Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state and support for armed struggle by an enemy state or terrorist organization against Israel.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara opposed Cassif’s disqualification, saying there were insufficient legal grounds to bar him from running.
The committee, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg, is considering a series of requests to disqualify parties and candidates ahead of the Oct. 27 election.
The cases include petitions concerning Ra’am, Otzma Yehudit, the Democrats, Religious Zionist, Zehut, the Arab Joint List and Balad, as well as Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh.
“Disqualifying a candidate or list deprives the entire public of the opportunity to give them their vote,” Solberg said.
