Israel’s election panel bars Ra’am and Joint List; Supreme Court fight looms
The Arab-led alliance can appeal to the Supreme Court, which will have the final say on whether it appears on the ballot
Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday to bar both Ra’am and the Joint List from the October 27 parliamentary election, setting up a Supreme Court fight over whether the two Arab-led slates can appear on the ballot.
The challenge to Ra’am came from three petitioners: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, and the Choosing Life forum of bereaved families and victims of terrorism.
They alleged that Ra’am supported armed struggle by a terrorist organization and rejected Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state. The committee voted 18–5 to disqualify the party.
The petitioners pointed to alleged connections between Ra’am, the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement and charities they claimed had assisted bodies linked to Hamas. Ra’am denies that the evidence connects the party to support for terrorism. Its leader, Mansour Abbas, called the committee’s decision political and said the party would challenge it in court. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara also opposed barring Ra’am, finding that the evidence did not establish grounds for disqualification.
The committee separately voted to disqualify the Joint List, an alliance of Hadash, Ta’al and Balad. Likud’s challenge to the alliance cited party positions and statements that it argued justified excluding the list. The panel also voted to bar two Joint List candidates individually: Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. Those are separate decisions from the vote against the alliance as a whole.
The bans are not the final word. Ra’am and the Joint List can appeal the decisions against their full slates to the Supreme Court. The decisions against Cassif and Abu Shehadeh must receive Supreme Court approval before those candidates can be excluded. The court is expected to hear election disqualification cases next week.
The legal test is demanding. Israeli law permits disqualification for rejecting the state’s existence as Jewish and democratic, inciting racism, or supporting armed struggle against Israel by a terrorist organization or enemy state.
The Supreme Court has required clear evidence that a prohibited position is central to a list’s or candidate’s activity, and it has overturned earlier committee bans on Arab parties. Its rulings will determine whether Wednesday’s votes change the October ballot.