Jerusalem (AFP) - The Israeli Supreme Court on Friday allowed the participation of two lists with an Arab majority in the legislative elections scheduled for October 27, canceling the Election Commission’s decision to exclude them at the request of the ruling coalition.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 17:26 Last updated: 02/10/2026 - 17:42
On September 23, the Central Elections Committee voted, at the request of members of the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to annul the candidacy of the two lists, based on a law prohibiting the participation of any party or person who “denies the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” or supports armed action by “a hostile state or terrorist organization against Israel.”
In three separate decisions, the Supreme Court found that “the arguments presented by the Election Commission” were not sufficient to invalidate the candidacy of the “Unified Arab List” and the “Joint List,” which includes three parties with an Arab majority, according to the rulings seen by Agence France-Presse.
The Joint List includes the parties of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash), the National Democratic Rally (Balad), and the Arab Movement for Change. As for the United Arab List (Ra’em), it has a moderate Islamic orientation, headed by MP Mansour Abbas, and in late August included a Jewish candidate, Yoav Segalovich, a former police official.
The Supreme Court, which almost systematically invalidates exclusion decisions issued by the Election Commission, unanimously allowed the two lists to run in the elections.
On Friday, the Israeli human rights organization Adalah condemned what it considered “a deliberate attempt to delegitimize Palestinian citizens and their parliamentary representatives, and to turn racism against Palestinians into electoral propaganda,” accusing the parties that filed appeals against the two lists of taking this step despite their prior knowledge that they would be rejected.
In addition to the two lists, the Elections Commission also invalidated the individual nominations of MP Ofer Kassif, a member of the Hadash Party, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the Balad Party.
The Supreme Court approved Kassif’s eligibility to run for office by a majority of seven judges, compared to two who considered that he “supported armed action against the State of Israel.”
As for Sami Abu Shehadeh, the court ruled Thursday to invalidate his candidacy because he described the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel as an “important historical event.”
Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population. Until the 2021 elections, they remained outside government coalitions. Most of them identify themselves as Palestinians.
© 2026 AFP
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