Supreme Court Urges Balad Leader Sami Abu Shehadeh To Withdraw Or Face Disqualification Ahead Of October Vote

Israel's Supreme Court has warned Balad party leader Sami Abu Shehadeh to withdraw from the October 27 Knesset race or risk formal disqualification, as a nine-justice panel began hearing high-profile appeals over the Central Elections Committee's decisions to bar several Arab-majority lists and individual candidates.

Panel Hearing Major Appeals — On Thursday a panel of nine justices heard arguments against the Central Elections Committee's recent moves to disqualify Ra'am, the Joint List (an alliance of Hadash, Ta'al and Balad), and individual candidates including Sami Abu Shehadeh and Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif. Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit told Abu Shehadeh that a majority of judges were inclined to disqualify him and gave him until Friday to withdraw; if he does not, the court indicated it would issue a disqualification ruling.

Accusations and Responses — National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit party petitioned to bar Abu Shehadeh, attended the hearing in a lawyer's robe and accused him of supporting terrorism, saying: "Sami Abu Shehadeh cannot be a member of Knesset. A supporter of terrorism belongs in prison, not in the Knesset." Prosecutors and petitioners pointed to comments they say showed sympathy for Hamas and a failure to condemn the October 7, 2023 attacks. Abu Shehadeh denied the allegations at the hearing, saying some of his remarks "may have been taken out of context" and that he is "completely opposed to acts of violence."

Attorney General's Position — Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported disqualifying Abu Shehadeh, citing an article he published the day after October 7 which she says signalled support for armed struggle. At the same time, she opposed banning Ofer Cassif and the Joint List, arguing the evidence did not meet the legal threshold required for disqualification.

Political and Representative Stakes — Analysts warned the moves could have broad political consequences. Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group described the attempt to ban Ra'am as particularly notable given the party's past participation in governing coalitions and its inclusion of Jewish members. Israeli affairs expert Shadi al-Sharafa called the effort a "dangerous precedent," saying it targets broad Arab representation rather than single candidates. Walid al-Omari, Al Jazeera Arabic's bureau chief in Ramallah, warned that if the court upholds the disqualifications, roughly 20% of Arab citizens of Israel could be left without major Knesset representation.

Background — Abu Shehadeh, a historian from Jaffa, served in the Knesset on the Joint List from September 2019 until November 2022; Balad lost its seats in the 2022 election. Ofer Cassif is a Jewish politician who has run in the slot reserved for a Jewish candidate on the Hadash-Ta'al list. Israel's Central Elections Committee is primarily a political body made up of representatives of parliamentary blocs in the outgoing Knesset. In prior instances the Supreme Court has overturned the committee's disqualifications of Arab lists and lawmakers.

What’s next: The court panel will continue to weigh appeals and could issue rulings that reshape the candidate list for the October 27 election. Observers say any upheld disqualifications would have significant implications for Arab political representation and for the broader balance of power in a sharply divided electorate.