The attempt by Israel’s right-wing and far-right parties to exclude Arab political representation from the October 27 Knesset elections has been overturned by the Supreme Court.
The court unanimously reversed the Central Elections Committee’s disqualification of the Joint List — comprising Hadash, Ta’al and Balad — and Ra’am, clearing both lists to participate in the election. It also overturned the disqualification of Hadash MK Ofer Cassif.
The ruling is a setback for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and its far-right allies, which had sought to remove their political opponents from the ballot. Likud itself filed the motions against the Joint List and Cassif, while Likud and Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit were among those seeking Ra’am’s exclusion. The Central Elections Committee had voted on September 23 to disqualify both Arab-majority lists, Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh.
Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel (Maki) had fiercely opposed the disqualifications, presenting them as an attack on Arab political participation and on Jewish-Arab forces challenging the government’s policies. Adalah, which represented the targeted lists and candidates, argued before the Supreme Court that the decisions lacked the evidentiary basis required by Israeli law and noted that the committee had simultaneously permitted far-right lists to run.
The effort to push Hadash and the Joint List out of the election has therefore failed. Hadash will contest the October vote as part of the Joint List, while Cassif — a prominent Jewish communist and outspoken opponent of Netanyahu’s government — remains on its slate. The broader political confrontation over Arab representation, occupation, equality and the direction of Israeli politics now returns to the ballot box.
Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel (Maki) had fiercely opposed the disqualifications, presenting them as an attack on Arab political participation and on Jewish-Arab forces challenging the government’s policies. Adalah, which represented the targeted lists and candidates, argued before the Supreme Court that the decisions lacked the evidentiary basis required by Israeli law and noted that the committee had simultaneously permitted far-right lists to run.
The effort to push Hadash and the Joint List out of the election has therefore failed. Hadash will contest the October vote as part of the Joint List, while Cassif — a prominent Jewish communist and outspoken opponent of Netanyahu’s government — remains on its slate. The broader political confrontation over Arab representation, occupation, equality and the direction of Israeli politics now returns to the ballot box.
