Yisrael! Party Backs Disqualification of Balad MK Candidate Sami Abu Shehadeh

The Yisrael! party announced its support for disqualifying Sami Abu Shehadeh, the chairman of the Balad party, from running for the 26th Knesset. The party, which is not a voting body, cited statements Abu Shehadeh made following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, as crossing the threshold defined by Israel's Basic Law: The Knesset, making him ineligible.

The party highlighted a post Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023, the day after the massacre, in which he described the Hamas attack as "an important historical event militarily, politically, and strategically." He also wrote, "If small, besieged Gaza was able to do this, and at this level, others can do it more effectively and simply."

Yisrael! with Gabi Ashkenazi rejected Abu Shehadeh's later clarification that he did not support the massacre. The party argued that his words should be examined in real-time and their meaning, not a revised statement made before a decision on his candidacy.

The party stated that supporting an armed struggle by a terror organization against the State of Israel is grounds for disqualifying a candidate, and that Abu Shehadeh had crossed the legal line. Yisrael! also affirmed that Arab citizens of Israel are entitled to full political representation, but support for armed struggle against the state cannot be legitimized on the path to the Knesset.