Top Israeli Legal Officials Back Disqualifying Balad Leader from Knesset Elections

Israel's Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, and State Prosecutor, Amit Eisman, have endorsed the disqualification of Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the Balad party, from running in the upcoming Knesset elections. In a document submitted to the Supreme Court ahead of an October 1st hearing, they stated that Abu Shehadeh supported armed struggle against Israel, which was the basis for his disqualification by the Central Elections Committee. The decision was made public on Tuesday, September 29th.

Baharav-Miara and Eisman argued that Abu Shehadeh's participation in the elections should be prohibited due to his support for armed conflict against Israel, particularly during the Hamas attack on October 7th. They cited an article he published on October 8th, 2023, which they claim expressed support for Hamas's armed struggle against Israel while the attack was ongoing. The legal officials asserted that Abu Shehadeh's explanations for his statements were "deceptive, incomplete, and do not address the core claims made against him."

The Central Elections Committee disqualified Abu Shehadeh by a vote of 31 to 4. Committee Chairman, Justice Noam Sohlberg, unusually broke with tradition to cast a vote in favor of disqualification, stating he found Abu Shehadeh's explanations unsatisfactory. He noted that election committee chairmen typically abstain from voting to maintain neutrality, but he felt compelled to depart from this practice in this instance.

Abu Shehadeh responded by calling the disqualification an attempt to remove an entire community from the political map and suppress Arab voter turnout. He vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court (Bagatz) to protect his right and his voters' right to representation and political participation, stating, "Attempts to disqualify us will not make us back down. We will continue the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality for all citizens."

The Supreme Court is also scheduled to hear appeals on October 1st regarding the Central Elections Committee's decisions to disqualify the Ra'am and United List parties, as well as Knesset Member Ofer Cassif. The push to disqualify Abu Shehadeh was initiated by the Otzma Yehudit party, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir. The primary evidence used against Abu Shehadeh was his October 8th article, which supporters interpreted as endorsing armed conflict, while Abu Shehadeh maintained he never called for violence and advocates for political and civil struggle.