Balad Party Chairman Expresses Regret Over October 7th Remarks

Sami Abu Shehadeh, chairman of the Balad party, has expressed regret for an article he published on October 8, 2023, in which he described the Hamas attack of October 7th as a "significant historical event" and suggested that others could learn from Gaza's success. Abu Shehadeh stated that had he been aware of the full extent of the atrocities at the time, he would not have published the article. This statement comes amid pressure from the Hadash-Ta'al alliance, with whom Balad is running, who claim they were previously unaware of the article's contents and are now urging him to retract his statements. Legal advisors for the alliance are concerned that the article could provide grounds for disqualifying Abu Shehadeh from running for the Knesset.

In the article, published in Arabic, Abu Shehadeh wrote that it was already clear on October 8th that the attack was "historically important militarily, politically, and strategically." He also commented on Israel's surprise, noting that if "small, besieged Gaza" could achieve such a feat, others could do so more easily. This was published even as reports of hundreds of Israelis murdered and kidnapped were emerging.

Abu Shehadeh's associates explained to N12 that the clarification is only being issued now because he had published dozens of articles since the attack and had not recalled the October 8th piece until it was included in the disqualification request. They asserted that if he had remembered it earlier, he would have corrected or retracted it.

Abu Shehadeh reiterated his unequivocal opposition to harming any human beings, whether Palestinian or Israeli, and condemned the October 7th massacre and subsequent actions against Gaza residents. He maintained that he has never called for violence, supported the October 7th events, or justified them.

The article is central to a disqualification request filed by Otzma Yehudit and Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who argue that Abu Shehadeh's words, along with other statements, justify his disqualification for denying Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state and supporting armed struggle against it. Abu Shehadeh is appealing to the Central Elections Committee not to disqualify him, arguing that the full scope of the horror was not yet clear when the article was published.