Israel to consider barring Balad leader Abu Shehadeh from elections — Jerusalem Post
Israel’s Central Elections Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday on the possible disqualification of Balad party leader Sami Abu Shehadeh from participating in the Knesset elections scheduled for October 27. The basis for the review is his statements and publications which, according to the petitioners, may indicate support for an armed struggle against Israel by a terrorist organization, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The hearing is part of a two-day consideration of petitions to disqualify candidates and parties from the elections. The committee is also to consider a petition concerning lawmaker Ofer Cassif, petitions regarding the Ra’am, Joint List and Balad parties, and, the following day, petitions concerning Otzma Yehudit, the Religious Zionism–Zehut list and the Democrats.
Article after the Hamas attack
The key evidence in the case against Abu Shehadeh is his Arabic-language article published on October 8, 2023. In it, he described Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel as an important historical event in military, political and strategic terms. He also wrote that the success of small and besieged Gaza in a surprise attack on Israel could enable others to act even more effectively.
Otzma Yehudit, which filed the petition, claims that the publication glorified the attack and encouraged others to emulate it. The petitioners also referred to other statements by the politician, including a post in which Palestinians killed by the Israel Defense Forces were called righteous martyrs, as well as his position on defining Israel as a Jewish state.
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Abu Shehadeh’s position and legal criteria
Abu Shehadeh said that his text was an analysis of the failure of Israeli intelligence and a warning against continuing the war, rather than approval of mass killing. In a written response, he stated that he opposes violence as a political method and acknowledged that it was wrong for the article not to mention the crimes committed on October 7. He explained that at the time of writing, he did not know the full scale of the crimes and would have condemned them had he known.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman indicated that the available evidence, primarily the article of October 8, 2023, shows that Abu Shehadeh expressed support for an armed struggle by a terrorist organization against Israel. At the same time, they did not explicitly recommend that the committee disqualify the politician from the elections, noting that previous such decisions were based on a broad and sustained body of evidence of systematic conduct.
Under the Basic Law: The Knesset, a candidate or electoral list may be disqualified from elections for denying Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting racism, or supporting an armed struggle against the country. Israel’s Supreme Court interprets these grounds narrowly: the prohibited position must be central to the candidate’s political activity and be confirmed by clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence. If the committee disqualifies Abu Shehadeh from the elections, the decision will take effect only after approval by the Supreme Court.
