Arab party leader forced to withdraw from Israeli elections

Palestinian participation in upcoming Knesset vote continues to shrink with withdrawal of Sami Abu Shehadeh.

Arab-Israeli party leader drops election bid

Arab Israeli politician Sami Abu Shehadeh has withdrawn his candidacy for the upcoming Israeli elections after the Supreme Court advised him to drop out.

The leader of the left-wing Palestinian Balad party announced on Friday he was dropping his bid for election to the Knesset on October 27. His withdrawal, which came after the court threatened to disqualify him, comes amid increased efforts by Israeli authorities to block Arab Israeli parties from taking part.

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Political analysts view Arab Israeli parties as potential kingmakers in the election, with polls showing neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the main opposition bloc on course for an outright majority.

The withdrawal came after the Supreme Court indicated that a majority of its judges agreed with a September 23 decision from Israel’s Central Elections Committee to oust him from the race after nationalist political rivals accused him of supporting Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023.

Adalah, a rights organisation representing Abu Shehadeh, condemned the court, saying the evidence it presented had no legal basis.

“The court has effectively decided to remove a Palestinian leader, a citizen of Israel, from the Knesset,” Adalah said in a statement.

“The court’s clear intention to disqualify him,” it added, was “a direction that would have set a dangerous legal precedent with devastating consequences.”

Sami Abu Shehadeh, leader of the Balad party, arrives at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2026 [AFP]

Abu Shehadeh served in the Knesset from 2019 to 2022. Balad confirmed he was withdrawing his candidacy but stressed that the decision did not mark the end of his political struggle and that he would remain party leader.

The elections committee voted to disqualify him at the request of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who accused him of supporting the Hamas attack due to an article issued the following day in which Abu Shehadeh called it an “important historical event”.

Speaking to the Supreme Court on Thursday, Abu Shehadeh said he did not support “armed struggle” but acknowledged that a paragraph in the article had been incorrectly worded. He said his intention was to call for moving the conflict towards a political process.

Adalah labelled his withdrawal from the election “a severe blow to the right of Palestinian citizens to be represented and to stand for election”.

The elections committee has also barred two Arab electoral lists: the United Arab List and the Joint List, a three-party alliance that includes Abu Shehadeh’s party Balad. The Supreme Court is due to continue hearing appeals from the parties on Friday.

Adalah has questioned why the Palestinian candidates are being disqualified but far-right Israeli candidates were “cleared to run” despite openly calling for violence against Palestinians and making statements “amounting to incitement to genocide”.

随着萨米·阿布·谢哈德的退出，巴勒斯坦参与即将举行的以色列议会选举的人数持续减少。

阿拉伯-以色列政党领导人放弃竞选

以色列阿拉伯裔政治家萨米·阿布·谢哈德在最高法院建议他退出竞选后，已撤回其参加即将举行的以色列大选的候选人资格。

巴勒斯坦左翼政党巴拉德党的领导人周五宣布，他将放弃参加10月27日举行的以色列议会选举。此前，法院曾威胁要取消他的参选资格。与此同时，以色列当局加大了阻止阿拉伯以色列政党参选的力度。

列表 1/3：10 月 7 日的警告威胁着内塔尼亚胡的以色列大选

以色列总理内塔尼亚胡批评反对派联合起来反对他参加选举（共3条，此为第2条）

问题 3（共 3 题）：是什么因素导致以色列定居者在被占领的西岸地区实施暴力？

政治分析人士认为，阿拉伯以色列政党有可能成为此次选举的“造王者”，民调显示，无论是总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡的执政联盟，还是主要反对派联盟，都不太可能获得绝对多数席位。

在最高法院表示多数法官同意以色列中央选举委员会 9 月 23 日的决定，将他从竞选中除名之后，他退出了竞选。此前，民族主义政治对手指责他支持哈马斯于 2023 年 10 月 7 日发动的袭击。

代表阿布·谢哈德的人权组织 Adalah 谴责了法院，称其提供的证据没有法律依据。

阿达拉在一份声明中说：“法院实际上已经决定将一名巴勒斯坦领导人，一名以色列公民，从以色列议会除名。”

声明还补充说，“法院明确表示要取消他的资格，这一决定将开创一个危险的法律先例，并带来毁灭性的后果。”

2026年10月1日，巴拉德党领导人萨米·阿布·谢哈德抵达耶路撒冷最高法院。[法新社]

阿布·谢哈德于 2019 年至 2022 年在以色列议会任职。巴拉德证实他将退出竞选，但强调这一决定并不意味着他政治斗争的结束，他仍将担任党魁。

选举委员会应极右翼国家安全部长伊塔马尔·本·格维尔的要求，投票取消了他的参选资格。本·格维尔指责他支持哈马斯的袭击，因为阿布·谢哈德在第二天发表的一篇文章中称其为“重要的历史事件”。

阿布·谢哈德周四在最高法院作证时表示，他不支持“武装斗争”，但承认文章中的一段措辞有误。他说，他的本意是呼吁将冲突引向政治进程。

阿达拉赫称他退出选举是“对巴勒斯坦公民获得代表权和参选权的严重打击”。

选举委员会还禁止了两个阿拉伯政党的选举名单：阿拉伯联合名单和联合名单，后者是由包括阿布·谢哈德领导的巴拉德党在内的三党组成的联盟。最高法院将于周五继续审理各方提出的上诉。

阿达拉质疑为什么巴勒斯坦候选人被取消资格，而极右翼以色列候选人却“获准参选”，尽管他们公开呼吁对巴勒斯坦人使用暴力，并发表“相当于煽动种族灭绝”的言论。