Yisrael Beiteinu to Back Disqualification of Arab Parties, MKs

The Yisrael Beiteinu party, led by Avigdor Lieberman, announced Wednesday it will vote to disqualify the Joint List, the Ra'am party, and Members of Knesset Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh. The party stated its reasoning is that any party opposing the stated goal of eliminating Hamas has no place in the Knesset. "Any Zionist government that is established after the elections must define the elimination of Hamas as a central goal of its security policy," Yisrael Beiteinu said in a statement. "Any party that opposes this has no place in the Knesset in Israel. Therefore, we will vote to disqualify the Joint List, Ra'am, Ofer Cassif, and Sami Abu Shehadeh."

The Central Elections Committee is set to convene for two days, starting Wednesday, to discuss approximately ten requests to disqualify various lists and candidates for the 26th Knesset. The hearings, chaired by Central Elections Committee head Justice Noam Sohlberg, will begin daily at 9:00 AM and be broadcast live.

Specific disqualification requests include three against Ra'am from Otzma Yehudit, Likud, and the "Voters for Life" forum. Otzma Yehudit itself faces two disqualification requests from "Zehoot" and "The Democrats." "The Democrats" are also subject to a disqualification request from Otzma Yehudit. "Religious Zionism" and "Identity" face a request from "Zehoot," while the Balad party has a request from "Orot HaShachar." The Joint List and MK Ofer Cassif face a disqualification request from Likud, and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh faces a request from Otzma Yehudit.