Why and How Is Israel Banning Arab Parties from Election?
Israel's election panel bars major Arab parties from the October 27 vote, but the Supreme Court could still overturn the decision.
With less than a month until Israel goes to the polls on October 27, the Central Elections Committee (CEC) has barred all Arab parties from participating in the election. This decision has sparked debate about the relationship between security, national identity and democratic representation in the country. Arab citizens of Israel, who comprise about a fifth of the population, would be without their most likely source of representation in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. However, the decision is not final and the Supreme Court could overrule it in the coming days.
The most high-profile party banned is Ra'am, also known as The United Arab List, which currently holds five of the 120 seats in the Knesset. The party takes a conservative, Islamic position and recently announced that it would allow Jewish candidates to run. Another party banned is the Joint List, a coalition of three parties - Hadash, Ta'al and Balad.
These parties were formed in part to avoid splitting votes and ensure their electoral threshold of 3.25% is met. Together, Hadash and Ta'al hold five seats in the outgoing parliament, while Balad has no representation.
Two individual candidates from the Joint List, Sami Abu Shehadeh of Balad and Ofer Cassif of Hadash, were also banned. The Central Elections Committee, which comprises representatives from the outgoing parliament, reportedly voted 18-5 to ban Ra'am and the Joint List. The committee rejected a petition against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party, which has recently drawn criticism from Germany and other countries for suggesting "targeted killings should be carried out in Gaza, regardless of whether those people posed an immediate threat."
The decision to ban the parties is based on the stipulation in the Knesset's basic law that prohibits candidates who show "negation of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, incitement to racism, or support for armed struggle by a hostile state or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel."
Supporters of the bans argue that the parties' leaders have made statements or engaged in conduct that violated these legal boundaries. Ra'am and the Joint List strongly reject the allegations, pointing to evidence that contradicts the claims made against them.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
