Israeli election authority bars both main Arab parties from Knesset race
Israel’s election board has disqualified both main Arab lists from upcoming elections, throwing Palestinian political representation into the hands of the regime’s Supreme Court just weeks before the polls.
Israel’s so-called "central elections committee" voted on Wednesday to bar the United Arab List, or Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, and the Joint List, an alliance of the Arab-led Hadash, Ta’al and Balad parties.
It also voted separately to disqualify Hadash legislator Ofer Cassif and Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh from the Knesset race, which is scheduled for October 27.
Adalah, the legal center representing the parties and candidates, has announced its intention to contest the votes when the Supreme Court examines the cases next week.
Ra'am characterized its exclusion as "political and unacceptable," asserting that the decision was designed to preclude it from altering the equilibrium of power and transforming the regime's cabinet.
According to the Joint List, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir were attempting to suppress voter participation among Arab citizens, driven by concern about the Arab electoral list’s potential to topple the ruling cabinet characterized by genocide and racism.
Its leader, Yousef Jabareen, challenged the legitimacy of the committee's decision to disqualify parties that serve the interests of more than 1.25 million voters.
Abu Shehadeh stated that his exclusion represented an effort to suppress dissent regarding existing policy, and declared that such decisions would be contested through judicial proceedings and public demonstration.
The Likud party, led by Netanyahu, made efforts to disqualify both the Joint List and Cassif, and was included among the groups that submitted filings against Ra'am.
Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party also sought to bar Abu Shehadeh.
Arabs, the majority of whom identify themselves as Palestinians, are descendants of Palestinians who remained on their territories following Israel's creation in 1948.
These individuals possess what is designated as so-called Israeli citizenship and constitute approximately 17.5 percent of Israel's total population.
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