Supreme Court President Suggests Candidate Withdraw Amid Disqualification Bid

President of the Supreme Court Yitzhak Amit stated during a hearing that a majority of judges favor disqualifying Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Alliance party, from running in the elections. Amit proposed that Abu Shehadeh consider withdrawing by the following day, or the court would be compelled to invalidate his candidacy. The judges unanimously found parts of an article Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023, to be offensive and expressed a prevailing inclination to uphold the disqualification. Abu Shehadeh was questioned about the article, written in Arabic after the October 7 attacks, which prompted the disqualification request. He acknowledged that publishing the article was a mistake and expressed regret, stating he would have deleted it if given the chance. He asserted that his thirty years in politics demonstrate opposition to armed struggle and that the article did not equate to endorsing it. The Central Elections Committee had previously decided to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, and the court is currently reviewing the appeal against this decision. Outside the Supreme Court, verbal altercations occurred between protesters supporting and opposing the disqualification of Arab lists and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who attended the hearing with Tali Gottlieb.