Israel’s Central Elections Committee has voted to disqualify the United Arab List (Ra’am), the Joint List and two candidates from participating in the upcoming Knesset election. The decisions, taken on September 23, are not final and will be subject to review by Israel’s Supreme Court.
The committee also voted to bar Knesset member Ofer Cassif and former lawmaker Sami Abu Shehadeh, who heads the Balad party, from contesting the October 27 election. The petitions cited provisions of Israel’s Basic Law that allow candidates or electoral lists to be disqualified on specific grounds, including alleged support for armed struggle against Israel or rejection of Israel’s character as a Jewish and democratic state.
The United Arab List, led by Mansour Abbas, was disqualified following petitions submitted by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition and other groups. The party had joined a coalition government in 2021 that ended Netanyahu’s previous tenure as prime minister.
The party has also included Jewish politician Yoav Segalovitz among its candidates for the upcoming election. Segalovitz previously served as a deputy minister and was involved in efforts related to improving public security in Arab communities.
Arab citizens of Israel account for roughly one-fifth of the country’s population. The political participation of Arab-majority parties has become a significant issue ahead of the October election.
In Abu Shehadeh’s case, the committee cited allegations that he denied Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state and supported armed struggle by an enemy state or terrorist organisation. The petition seeking his disqualification was backed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Abu Shehadeh rejected the move and said he would challenge it.
Adalah, a legal organisation representing Arab citizens of Israel, said there was no legal basis for the disqualifications and announced that it would challenge the decisions before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is expected to review the cases before the October 27 election.
