Israel election panel bars Ra'am and Joint List from October vote in move likely to be overturned

Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted on Wednesday to disqualify the Ra’am and Joint List parties from contesting the October 27 Knesset election, a decision that — if it stood — would leave no major Arab-majority list on the ballot.

The committee, made up largely of representatives of Knesset factions, barred each list by 18 votes to five, with one abstention, according to The Jerusalem Post. The Joint List, comprising Hadash, Ta’al and Balad, was barred on a petition from the Likud; Ra’am, the United Arab List led by Mansour Abbas, was disqualified on requests filed by the Likud, Otzma Yehudit and the Choosing Life forum. The petitions invoked Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, alleging the parties rejected Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state and supported armed struggle against it — claims the parties deny.

The attorney-general’s office opposed both bans, saying the evidence failed to meet the law’s stringent threshold, and noted that previous court rulings found Balad’s platform insufficient grounds for disqualification. Unlike individual disqualifications, party-list bans do not automatically go to the Supreme Court for approval, but appeals are expected to be heard next week. The court has historically overturned such moves, including a 2019 disqualification of a joint Ra’am-Balad slate.

Abbas called the decision “political, improper, and anti-democratic”, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to block “the next change government” by removing Ra’am from the race. The Joint List accused Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of an attempt to “steal election, disenfranchise over a million Arab Israelis”. Earlier on Wednesday the committee also voted to disqualify Joint List MK Ofer Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh individually; those decisions require Supreme Court approval before taking effect.