Israel's Supreme Court Reverses Disqualification of Arab Parties and MK Cassif

Israel's Supreme Court unanimously overturned a decision by the Central Elections Committee to disqualify the United Arab List, led by Dr. Mansour Abbas, and the Joint List, headed by Professor Yousef Jabareen. In a separate ruling, the court, by a majority vote, also reversed the disqualification of MK Ofer Cassif, who ran on the Joint List. Two judges had favored upholding Cassif's disqualification.

The Supreme Court's decision came after an extensive, approximately 10-hour deliberation by an expanded panel of nine justices, presided over by Court President Justice Yitzhak Amit. The court issued its ruling ahead of the legal deadline for decisions on candidate and list disqualifications, which is set for Sunday.

Meanwhile, Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Assembly, officially withdrew his candidacy. He sent a formal letter to the Elections Committee informing them of his decision. Abu Shehadeh's withdrawal followed intensive consultations with his party's political bureau and legal counsel. Justice Amit had previously indicated during deliberations that there was a majority on the court to uphold Abu Shehadeh's disqualification and had advised him to withdraw, granting him until the end of the deliberations to decide.