Israel's Supreme Court Allows Arab Lists, Cassif to Run; Abu Shehadeh Withdraws

Israel's Supreme Court has overturned decisions by the Central Elections Committee to disqualify the Joint List, the United Arab List, and Member of Knesset Ofer Cassif from participating in the upcoming Knesset elections. The court ruled unanimously that the Joint List and the United Arab List would be allowed to run, canceling their prior disqualification. Similarly, the court allowed MK Ofer Cassif to remain in the electoral race, despite expressing sharp criticism of some of his statements. A dissenting opinion was recorded regarding Cassif's case, suggesting grounds for his disqualification.

Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Assembly, officially withdrew his candidacy after the Supreme Court session. The court had not issued a final decision on his case, but Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit informed Abu Shehadeh that the court considered his article about the October 7th events to be extremely dangerous and that a majority of judges leaned towards disqualifying him. Amit suggested Abu Shehadeh withdraw his candidacy to avoid a judicial ruling, which he did.

Following Abu Shehadeh's withdrawal, the court did not issue a ruling on his disqualification, meaning his withdrawal does not preclude him from running in future elections. Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, reacted by calling for the National Democratic Assembly to be banned, stating that its presence in the Knesset represented "a terrorist organization."

The Supreme Court's decision to allow the Arab lists and Cassif to run drew criticism from several Israeli political figures. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated, "Either the right, or Palestine!" MK Smcha Rothman called the decision "support for terrorism," and MK Avichai Kreizer sarcastically commented, "The Supreme Court, in its home and among its people."

The Central Elections Committee had voted to disqualify the Joint List, the United Arab List, Cassif, and Abu Shehadeh approximately a week prior to the Supreme Court's review.