Israel’s Central Elections Committee on Wednesday disqualified Balad Party chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from running in the Oct. 27 election for the Knesset, while also voting to bar Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif earlier in the day. Both decisions will be submitted to the High Court of Justice for review.
The committee voted 30-4 to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, accepting petitions arguing that he supported armed struggle against Israel and denied Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state. The petition was filed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party.
The case centered on an Arabic-language article Abu Shehadeh published on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. In the article, he described the attack as “an important historic event militarily, politically and strategically” and wrote that others could learn from Hamas’s ability to surprise Israel.
Abu Shehadeh has denied supporting the Oct. 7 attack or political violence, saying he opposes armed struggle. He has described the disqualification effort as an attempt to silence him and the Arab community’s political voice.
The vote was notable because committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg broke with the customary practice of abstaining and voted in favor of Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification.
“I will depart from the custom of chairmen to maintain neutrality,” Sohlberg said. “I have not found a solution that can put people at ease, and therefore, even though it is rare, I am voting in favor of disqualifying Sami Abu Shehadeh. If there is a case where the application is clear, this is it.”
Earlier in the day, the committee voted 19-5, with two abstentions, to disqualify Cassif following a Likud Party petition alleging that he denied Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.
Cassif called the disqualification efforts politically motivated, saying they had “a political, racist and fascist goal in essence—the complete delegitimization of Arab society and the Jewish-Arab partnership.”
“There is no contradiction between the absolute and unequivocal condemnation I expressed against the massacre in Gaza and the war crimes committed by Israel there and in the West Bank and the absolute and unequivocal condemnation I expressed against the massacre of Oct. 7 and the horrific war crimes committed by Hamas,” Cassif said.
The Balad and Hadash factions are running together as part of the Joint List.
Both disqualification decisions must now be reviewed by the High Court before they can take effect.
