Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted to bar Ra’am, the Joint List, Sami Abu Shehadeh and Ofer Cassif from the October 27 election, with the governing majority accusing the lists of rejecting Israel’s identity as a Jewish and democratic state and supporting armed struggle. The Supreme Court cleared the two lists and Cassif, while Abu Shehadeh withdrew after the justices urged him to do so and indicated they would uphold his disqualification; he denied supporting armed struggle and said he regretted the article at issue. Balad said he would remain its leader and that the party’s political struggle would continue.
Summary written by our automated pipeline from the outlets' reporting. How it works
Grouped by where each speaker is from. Quotation marks are the speaker's own words; other lines are our summaries.
Abu Shehada said he had never supported violence or armed struggle, did not know the scale of the massacre when he wrote the article, and now regrets writing it.
Our summary of El País
“We have no future here if we do not stop being afraid”
Quoted in NDTV · also 1 other outlet
“…understands that the only way to prevent the establishment of a government of change is to disqualify Ra’am.”
Quoted in teleSUR English, via EFE
“Israel is a democratic country, only Israelis can choose their leaders”
Quoted in NDTV
Ofer Cassif described Israel’s military operations in Gaza as genocide, called for repeal of the Law of Return, and advocated for Marwan Barghouti’s release.
Our summary of teleSUR English, via Agencies
“…a slap in the face of the entire Arab public”
Quoted in Xinhua
“…anyone who wants to offer a substantive and genuine alternative to Netanyahu's blood-soaked government will have to talk to us”
Quoted in The Hindu
The Israeli prime minister’s majority accused the lists of denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.
Our summary of Le Monde
Only Justices David Mintz and Alex Stein considered the evidence sufficient to show Cassif supported armed struggle against the state.
Our summary of The Times of Israel
The court found that the arguments presented did not suffice to justify disqualifying the two lists.
Our summary of Le Monde, via AFP
“I fight every campaign as though I'm [going to] lose, and that's the only reason I win”
Quoted in Fox News
Herzog described the high voter turnout as a badge of honor for Israeli society.
Our summary of The Times of Israel
Baharav-Miara supported Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification, saying his article appeared to support armed struggle against Israel.
Our summary of The Times of Israel
Ben Gvir criticized the court for not ruling on the disqualification matter.
Our summary of The Times of Israel
Points where outlets or parties give conflicting facts or readings. Each side is summarised by our pipeline; its sources are listed under it.
The governing majority said the lists’ positions on Israel’s identity and armed struggle justified disqualification.
Hadash said the move was an effort to suppress Arab-citizen turnout and keep the far right in power.
Hadash, Israeli political party · our summary of teleSUR English, via EFE
The attorney general argued that Abu Shehadeh’s article appeared to express support for armed struggle against Israel.
the attorney general · our summary of The Times of Israel
Abu Shehadeh said he had never supported violence or armed struggle and denied calling for armed struggle against Israel.
Sami Abu Shehada, Balad leader · our summary of El País
Sami Abou Shahadeh, Balad leader · our summary of The Times of Israel
Reactions from other countries and bodies, others involved, and commentary.
“America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so”
Quoted in NDTV
“I do not believe there is an 'election' taking place there”
Quoted in Mehr News Agency
Civil administration in Gaza, run by Hamas since 2007.
The Palestinian death count in the Gaza war has exceeded 74,000.
Our summary of NDTV, via AFP
“This is an election with a lot of anger about responsibility for the Oct. 7 massacre and about the social and economic cost of sustaining the war since”
Quoted in Fox News
“I urge every young person and everyone with a vote to cast it”
Quoted in The Times of Israel, via Agence France-Presse
“…his message preys on young uneducated people”
Quoted in BBC News
“As for Iran, a settlement is needed before the conflict escalates further”
Quoted in The Korea Herald, via Reuters
“There is a large camp in Israel whose main goal in the coming election is just for things to be calmer”
Quoted in The Hindu · also 1 other outlet
“Anybody who’s an 18-year-old now, his or her entire political consciousness is under [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu; it’s a very ultra-nationalist environment”
Quoted in The Times of Israel, via AFP
“…who is best positioned to continue the work begun under Netanyahu, foremost prosecuting the wars that have, to a large extent, dismantled the Iranian-led Shiite axis surrounding…”
Quoted in Fox News
“…a new Israeli government should seek a reset”
Quoted in The Times of Israel, via JTA
The committee voted to disqualify Ra’am and the Joint List and to bar Sami Abu Shehadeh and Ofer Cassif.
Sources: Le Monde · The Times of Israel
The Central Election Committee voted in favor of disqualifying the two lists formed by Arab parties.
The committee voted to disqualify Ra’am and the Joint List, an alliance of Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad.
The committee also disqualified Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh.
After the court urged him to withdraw on Thursday, Abu Shehadeh withdrew overnight Thursday to Friday.
Sources: Le Monde · The Times of Israel
After the Court urged him to withdraw on Thursday, Sami Abou Chehadeh withdrew his candidacy overnight.
Sami Abou Shehadeh is ending his candidacy for the October 27 election after facing the prospect of disqualification.
The Supreme Court unanimously overturned the bans on Ra’am and the Joint List and overturned Cassif’s disqualification.
Sources: Le Monde · The Times of Israel
The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the disqualification of two Arab-majority lists and allowed them to run in the October 27 legislative elections.
The court ruled 7-2 against the committee’s decision to bar Ofer Cassif from running.
Each outlet's headline, linked to its article. Non-English headlines are machine-translated. The groupings and notes on what each outlet emphasises are automated.
No statements from the government or officials of Palestine are in our sources.
Written by our automated pipeline from the statements in the coverage; each point lists the statements it rests on.
The committee voted to disqualify two Arab party lists and two candidates; the governing majority cited their positions on Israel’s identity and armed struggle.
Our summary of Le Monde
Our summary of The Times of Israel
Our summary of The Times of Israel
the Israeli prime minister's majority, Israeli governing majority · our summary of Le Monde
The Supreme Court unanimously overturned the bans on Ra’am and the Joint List and voted 7–2 to allow Cassif to run. Abu Shehadeh withdrew after the court urged him to stand down and indicated a majority would uphold his disqualification.
Our summary of The Times of Israel
Our summary of The Times of Israel
Supreme Court · our summary of The Times of Israel
Supreme Court · our summary of The Times of Israel
Israel’s Knesset election was scheduled for October 27, 2026.
Our summary of TASS
Le Monde and El País: Reported the committee’s stated grounds and Abu Shehadeh’s denial and regret.
The Times of Israel: Covered the attorney general’s argument, Adalah’s objection about unequal standards, the court rulings and the withdrawal proceedings.
Deutsche Welle: Reported the court’s decisions on the lists and individual candidates.
teleSUR English relaying EFE: Included Hadash’s and Mansour Abbas’s political responses to the committee decisions.
Clarín: Reported Balad’s concern that the withdrawal avoided a precedent for excluding Palestinian candidates.
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Israel’s Supreme Court building in Jerusalem, photographed in 2018; contextual image, not a photograph of the election ruling.
File:Holy Land 2018 (2) P145 Jerusalem Israel supreme court building.jpg · Fallaner · CC BY-SA 4.0
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