Arab Parties Denounce Likud's Bid to Disqualify Them from Elections

The Joint List, an alliance of Arab political parties, fiercely condemned on Monday the Likud party's intention to file a request to disqualify them from running in the upcoming 26th Knesset elections. The Joint List characterized the move as a "rotten and racist act" by a party that has "lost the public's trust" and brought "only destruction and death." They asserted that this attempt to silence them would fail, stating, "No attempt to silence us will work. When they try to disqualify us, we will multiply and flourish."

The Joint List accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of initiating this process out of fear of losing the election, claiming he "will stop at nothing to prevent that moment." They further alleged that the Arab public in Israel has been subjected to a campaign of incitement and attempts to undermine the legitimacy of their Knesset representatives in recent years. The party believes the disqualification initiative stems from a fear of their growing political influence and the vision they advocate.

"No incitement campaign and no disqualification attempt will stop us on the way to toppling the Netanyahu-Ben Gvir-Smotrich government," the Joint List declared. The response came after Likud announced its intention to seek the disqualification of both the Joint List and the Ra'am party. Likud stated that "in the Knesset of Israel, there is no place for those who harm IDF soldiers and are unable to say that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations."

The disqualification requests are expected to be initially decided by the Central Elections Committee, as part of a wave of such petitions submitted by parties ahead of the elections.