Likud Party Seeks to Disqualify Arab Parties from Upcoming Elections

The Likud party announced its intention to submit official requests to disqualify the Joint List and the Ra'am party from participating in the upcoming elections. The party issued strong criticism against Arab parties, stating that "there is no place in the Knesset for those who harm IDF soldiers and cannot say that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party also warned against future political cooperation, asserting that "these supporters of terror are the natural partners of Gadi Eisenkot, with whom he wants to form a government alongside Yair Golan and Liberman, this must not be allowed to happen." This move by Likud comes amidst significant political realignments within the Arab political sphere.

MK Ahmad Tibi of the Ta'al party announced that the Joint List is expected to sign a surplus vote agreement with Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas. Tibi stated that while the agreement can only be legally submitted after the lists are approved by the Election Committee, it will be signed beforehand. This potential alliance gains political weight following Tibi's declaration in an interview that the Joint List intends to work towards replacing the right-wing government, aiming to remove figures like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, and emphasizing their crucial role in any governmental change.

This planned surplus vote agreement reinforces cooperation between Arab parties and a potential anti-Netanyahu coalition, reminiscent of the Bennett-Lapid government where Ra'am provided support. This aligns with previous instances where Arab parties supported center-left candidates, indicating their ambition to play a pivotal role in forming the next government.

In parallel to Likud's action, the Noam party submitted a request last month to disqualify Ra'am, citing statements made by Mansour Abbas. Abbas reportedly claimed that Ra'am "had to accept" Israel as a Jewish state to avoid disqualification and did not deny the Nakba. Noam argued these statements reveal a lack of genuine recognition of Israel as a Jewish nation, suggesting it was merely a tactic to meet legal requirements and expressing concern over Abbas's alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Noam's leader, MK Avi Maoz, strongly criticized Abbas, stating he "revealed his true face" and does not truly accept Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.