Election Committee Disqualifies MK Ofer Cassif; Supreme Court to Rule

The Central Elections Committee voted on Wednesday to disqualify Knesset Member Ofer Cassif from running in the 26th Knesset elections, following a petition by the Likud party. The vote was 19 in favor of disqualification, with five opposed and two abstaining. The decision and its reasoning will now be forwarded to the Supreme Court for final approval, meaning Cassif's candidacy is not yet definitively barred.

Likud's petition invoked a clause in the Basic Law: The Knesset, which allows for the disqualification of candidates who deny the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Cassif vehemently rejected the petition during the hearing, arguing that it misrepresented his opposition to government policy as support for enemies and harm to the state. He described the petition as a "blatant distortion of reality and a complete perversion of the spirit of democracy."

Cassif stated that he has condemned both Hamas's actions on October 7th and Israel's conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, which he termed "war crimes." He emphasized that his criticism is directed at the government's policies, not the state itself.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Elections Committee, stressed at the outset of the hearings that disqualifying a candidate is an exceptional measure requiring caution. "Disqualifying a candidate or a list denies an entire public the ability to give them their vote. Let this matter not be taken lightly," he told committee members. Sohlberg noted that such a ruling requires clear and substantial evidentiary support, and he reiterated his practice of not participating in votes.

The hearing concerning Cassif is one of seven disqualification proceedings scheduled during the current election cycle, involving two individual candidates and five lists.