Petitions to ban the parties invoke Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, which allows exclusion for denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting racism, or supporting armed struggle against Israel. Likud sought to disqualify the Joint List and Ofer Cassif, and the party was among the groups that filed petitions against Ra’am. Otzma Yehudit sought to bar Sami Abu Shehadeh.

Ra’am stated its exclusion was intended to prevent it from influencing the balance of power. The Joint List stated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir were trying to discourage Arab citizens from voting. Adalah will challenge the disqualification decisions in the Supreme Court.

Why It Matters

The disqualifications target major political forces representing Arab citizens, including a party that served in government in 2021 and an alliance that polls project could hold twelve seats. The removal of these lists and candidates alters the composition of the ballot just weeks before voters cast ballots, raising questions about representation and the application of electoral laws.

The divergent legal paths for the disqualified entities mean the Supreme Court will review both individual candidate bans and party list exclusions. The court previously overturned Balad’s exclusion in 2022, establishing a precedent that the current decisions may test. The outcome will determine whether these political entities can participate in the October 27 election.

Timeline

Ra’am joined the coalition government formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid on June 13, 2021. The Supreme Court overturned Balad’s exclusion on January 20, 2022. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara stated that an article Sami Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023, may constitute support for armed struggle. A Channel 12 poll projected seven seats for the Joint List and five for Ra’am on September 23, 2026.

The Central Elections Committee voted to disqualify Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh on September 24, 2026. The Central Elections Committee voted to disqualify the United Arab List (Ra’am) from the October 27 election on September 24, 2026. The vote to disqualify Ra’am and the Joint List was 18-5 with one abstention for each list on September 24, 2026. The Central Elections Committee voted to disqualify Hadash legislator Ofer Cassif on September 24, 2026.

What's New

The Central Elections Committee voted 30-4 Wednesday to disqualify the largely Arab Balad party chairman and Joint List No. 3 Sami Abu Shehadeh from running in the October 27 election, with the support of all opposition parties and rare backing from Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who heads the panel, according to later reporting from qoshe.com. The Central Elections Committee rejected two attempts to bar Otzma Yehudit from the October 27 election on Thursday, one day after it voted to exclude Ra’am, the Joint List and two Joint List candidates under the same constitutional provision, according to additional reporting from jpost.com.

The vote to disqualify Ra’am and the Joint List was 18-5 with one abstention for each list, as noted in further details from jpost.com. The cases are not legally identical, and each depends on the evidence presented against that particular party or candidate. They also follow different routes to the Supreme Court: The disqualifications of Cassif and Abu Shehadeh require the court’s approval, while decisions concerning Ra’am, the Joint List and Otzma Yehudit can be challenged through appeals, according to jpost.com.

The vote to disqualify Ofer Cassif was 19-5 with two abstentions. The Supreme Court has the final say on the disqualifications, according to reporting from jta.org.