RAMALLAH, September 23, 2026 (WAFA) - Israel’s Central Elections Committee (CEC) voted on Wednesday to bar Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad), from running in the upcoming Knesset elections.
Israel’s Supreme Court Justice and CEC chairman Noam Sohlberg joined a 31-member majority approving a disqualification petition against Abu Shehadeh, which was initially submitted by Jewish supremacist Itamar Ben-Gvir’s faction.
Meanwhile, the CEC also voted to bar Israeli lawmaker Ofer Cassif from participating in the parliamentary race by a 19-member majority, accepting a petition submitted by the Likud party.
Responding to his disqualification, Abu Shehadeh responded to the news by affirming that the decision extended far beyond his individual candidacy, describing it as an institutional attempt to exclude Palestinian citizens of Israel from political life.
"The committee’s decision today does not merely target me as an individual; it aims to silence an entire community, erase our political representation, and suppress Arab voter turnout," he said in a statement.
"We will appeal to the Supreme Court to defend our fundamental right to political participation. These exclusionary measures will not deter us; we will confront political racism and persist in our peaceful, steadfast struggle for equality, justice, and democratic rights for all citizens."
The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) said that the decision to disqualify Abu Shehadeh was invalid and baseless and that the allegations on which the decision was based did not meet the required legal threshold for barring his candidacy. It noted that his public positions and statements did not include a direct call for violence.
Regarding Cassif, Adalah said that the request to disqualify him had no legal basis, and that Israeli law does not allow a person to be barred from running for office merely for criticizing the army and government or supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
K.F.
