Israel’s Central Elections Committee has voted to bar the country’s two main Arab-majority political lists from next month’s parliamentary election, potentially leaving Palestinian citizens of Israel without their principal representatives in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.
asserted
Committee → vote → parliament
The committee also voted to disqualify Ofer Cassif, a Jewish politician from the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, the leader of the Palestinian nationalist Balad party.
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committee → vote → party
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The votes are not the final word on who can run in the October 27 election.
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who → declare → election
The Supreme Court is expected to review the decisions next week and has overturned previous attempts to exclude Arab parties and candidates.
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Court → expect → parties
But the committee’s decision has already prompted accusations of double standards, with Palestinian-led parties facing exclusion while parties led by far-right ministers, some of whom have been sanctioned internationally, remaining on the ballot.
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some → prompt → ballot
Here is what the decision means.
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decision → mean → what
Which parties have been barred?
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parties → bar → ?
The committee voted to disqualify two separate groups.
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committee → vote → groups
The second is Ra’am, also called the United Arab List, which is running on its own.
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which → call → own
Both rely on support from Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up about one-fifth of the country’s population.
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who → rely → population
The Joint List
This brings together three parties.
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This → bring → parties
Hadash is a left-wing party with Jewish and Arab members, Ta’al campaigns primarily for the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Balad calls for a state with equal rights for all its citizens.
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Balad → campaign → citizens
They agreed to contest this election on a single list, meaning their candidates would appear together on the ballot.
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candidates → agree → ballot
It is an electoral tactic used to not split votes among parties that are similar ideologically.
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that → use → parties
A list must also win at least 3.25 percent of the national vote to enter the Knesset, so by joining forces, smaller parties combine their votes and reduce the risk that each falls below the threshold – in which case none of them would win seats.
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none → win → seats
In the current 120-seat Knesset, the Hadash-Ta’al alliance holds five seats.
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alliance → hold → seats
Of the Hadash-Ta’al seats, three belong to Hadash politicians and two to Ta’al.
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three → belong → Ta’al
Balad has no seats.
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Balad → have → seats
Led by Mansour Abbas, it is running separately.
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it → lead → Abbas
It has been more willing to negotiate with other parties over funding and services for Arab communities.
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It → negotiate → communities
Ra’am joined the broad coalition that governed Israel from 2021 to 2022.
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that → join → 2022
The Joint List did not join that government.
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List → join → government
In the current Knesset, Ra’am holds five seats.
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Ra’am → hold → seats
Why have these parties been barred?
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parties → bar → ?
The decision followed petitions by the right-wing parties, Likud and Otzma Yehudit, which accused the parties and candidates of denying Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state, supporting armed struggle against Israel or inciting racism.
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which → follow → racism
The committee is chaired by a Supreme Court justice, but its voting members represent parties in the outgoing Knesset.
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members → chair → Knesset
Politicians therefore vote on whether rival parties and candidates can contest the election, although the Supreme Court has the final say.
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Court → vote → say
The committee voted 18-5 to bar Ra’am and, in a separate vote, 18-5 to bar the Joint List.
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committee → vote → List
It also voted 18-5 to bar Cassif and 31-4 to bar Abu Shehadeh, according to Adalah, the Palestinian legal rights group representing the lists and candidates.
uncertain
It → vote → lists
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara opposed the disqualification of the two lists and Cassif, saying the evidence did not meet the legal threshold.
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evidence → oppose → threshold
She took a different position on Abu Shehadeh, however.
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She → take → Shehadeh
The case against him centres in part on an article he wrote on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’s attacks on Israel.
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he → centre → Israel
The article was published on the Arab 48 website and referred to the attack as “an important historic event militarily, politically and strategically”.
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article → publish → event
The attorney general claimed its wording could amount to support for armed struggle.
uncertain
wording → claim → struggle
Abu Shehadeh rejects that reading.
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Shehadeh → reject → reading
He said on X that he opposed armed struggle and supported a “political and civil struggle for peace, justice, and equality”.
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he → say → peace
Other opposition parties in Israel support the disqualification of Abu Shehadeh.
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parties → support → Shehadeh
Yair Golan, leader of the opposition Democrats party, said of Abu Shehadeh: “Whoever wants a Jewish-Arab partnership does not speak this way, period,” he said, calling any legitimacy given to armed struggle or harm to civilians “a red line”.
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he → say → civilians
Adalah disputes the case against Abu Shehadeh.
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Adalah → dispute → Shehadeh
It says the article contains no call for violence and argues that the petitions against the Joint List largely rely on old material or positions previously examined by the courts.
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petitions → say → courts
…and 25 more, not listed.
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