Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu to Back Banning Arab Parties from Elections

The Yisrael Beytenu party, led by Avigdor Lieberman, announced it will support efforts to disqualify the Arab party Ra'am, the Joint List, Knesset Member Ofer Cassif, and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from participating in upcoming elections. The party stated its opposition to any entity that does not consider the elimination of Hamas a primary goal for a future Israeli government. "Any Zionist government that will be formed after the elections must define the elimination of Hamas as one of the central goals of its security policy," Yisrael Beytenu declared. "Any party that opposes this has no place in the Knesset of Israel."

The announcement comes ahead of two-day hearings by the Knesset Central Elections Committee, which is reviewing petitions to remove parties and candidates from the electoral race. The proceedings are being broadcast live and are chaired by Judge Noam Solberg, according to Mako. Approximately ten petitions are under consideration.

Three petitions target Ra'am, filed by the Otzma Yehudit party, Likud, and the "Voters for Life" forum. Conversely, two petitions seek to disqualify Otzma Yehudit itself, submitted by the "Tzulat for Equality and Human Rights" movement and the "Democrats" party. Tzulat has also called for the banning of the "Religious Zionism" and "Zeut" lists. A petition against the Balad party was filed by the "Aharot Ha'Shachar" party, and Otzma Yehudit submitted a separate petition against Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. Likud is also seeking the removal of the Joint List and MK Ofer Cassif.

The Central Elections Committee is examining the eligibility of parties and candidates through a legally prescribed process. Decisions made by the committee may subsequently be appealed to the Supreme Court.