Israel's Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday to bar the Joint List from the Oct. 27 election and disqualify Ra'am, MK Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh. Ra'am may appeal; individual disqualifications require Supreme Court approval, and cases are due next week.
The petitions, filed by Likud, Otzma Yehudit and the Choosing Life forum of bereaved families and victims of terrorism, alleged Ra'am supported armed struggle by a terrorist organization and rejected Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state. They cited alleged ties involving Ra'am, the Islamic Movement's Southern Branch and charities they said sent assistance to bodies linked to Hamas, as well as statements they argued showed Ra'am presented different positions to Hebrew- and Arabic-speaking audiences. Ra'am denied the allegations, and the attorney-general and state attorney opposed disqualification, saying the evidence did not establish statutory grounds.
The Supreme Court has interpreted Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset narrowly, requiring clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence that a prohibited objective is central to a party's activity and a dominant feature of its conduct, not marginal or isolated. A ban on an entire party list does not automatically go to the court for approval. In 2019, the court overturned the committee's disqualification of a joint Ra'am-Balad slate.
