Israel’s top court restores Arab parties to election ballot

Israel’s Supreme Court has restored two Arab parties and a Jewish far-left lawmaker to the ballot for the country’s October 27 general election, overturning decisions by a parliamentary electoral committee. The court unanimously allowed the United Arab List, known as Raam, and another Arab party to contest the election. In a separate 7-2 decision, it reinstated the candidacy of Ofer Cassif, a far-left Jewish MP and critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

The two dissenting justices said Cassif had supported “armed struggle against the state of Israel”, which they considered grounds for disqualification. The court has frequently overturned electoral committee decisions to bar candidates, according to the source material. The ruling came after Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the left-wing Palestinian Balad Party, withdrew his candidacy.

Judges had indicated during a hearing that they were likely to uphold his disqualification. Balad said a court-ordered removal would have had “grave consequences for the country’s political and parliamentary life”. The case against Abu Shehadeh concerned an article he wrote after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.

He described the attack as an “important historical event” but denied supporting it. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, led the campaign against Abu Shehadeh. He called the withdrawal a victory, while expressing disappointment that the Supreme Court had not ruled directly against the candidate.

Arab citizens make up about 20% of Israel’s population. Raam became the first Arab party to join an Israeli government after the 2021 election, when it participated in a coalition that briefly displaced Netanyahu. Analysts cited in the source material said Raam could again influence coalition-building, particularly because it is fielding Jewish Zionist candidate Yoav Segalovitz alongside its Arab candidates.