Top Legal Officials Back Disqualifying Arab Israeli Lawmaker Sami Abed Al-Hameed

Israel's Attorney General Amit Aisman and the government's legal advisor, Gali Baharav-Miara, have officially recommended that the Supreme Court disqualify Sami Abed Al-Hameed, head of the Balad party, from running in the upcoming Knesset elections. The recommendation, submitted to the High Court of Justice (Bagatz), cites Abed Al-Hameed's support for armed struggle against Israel, including in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas attacks.

In their joint opinion, the legal officials stated that an article Abed Al-Hameed published on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attack began and while it was ongoing, expressed support for Hamas's armed conflict against Israel. They asserted that his behavior falls squarely within the grounds for disqualification under Israel's Basic Law: Knesset.

The opinion further noted that Abed Al-Hameed's subsequent explanations for his statements were "evasive and incomplete," failing to address the core accusations against him. This follows a TikTok video he posted three days after the October 7th attack, where he accused Israel of inciting violence against Gazans and killing Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, without mentioning Hamas's responsibility. In the video, he also referred to the October 7th massacre as a "significant political event" with far-reaching consequences.

The article published on October 8th on the Arabic news site "Arab 48" is the specific piece that led the Central Elections Committee to initially ban Abed Al-Hameed from participating in the elections. The committee had previously disqualified Abed Al-Hameed, along with MK Ofer Cassif, the Ra'am party, and the United List. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the appeals against these disqualifications on October 1st and will issue the final decision.