Rare is the day when Israeli politicians drop their differences and agree on an issue of national importance. Two days ago, they broke the mould when they backed a decision by the Central Elections Committee to disqualify the chairman of the left-wing Balad Party, Sami Abu Shehadeh, from running in the October 27 election. They passed this motion by a margin of 30-4.

Abu Shehadeh crossed a red line when he broke a basic law that explicitly prohibits an Israeli citizen from expressing support for armed struggle against Israel, negating its existence as a Jewish and democratic state, and inciting racism.

But in a problematic decision, the committee also voted to disqualify Ra’am, the United Arab List headed by Mansour Abbas, and the Joint List, an alliance of Arab parties consisting of Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad. Ofer Cassif, a Jewish member of Hadash, was thereby disqualified from running in the election.

The chairman of the committee, Supreme Court judge Noam Sohlberg, said that Abu Shehadeh failed to adequately answer allegations that he had backed Hamas’ armed struggle against Israel in an article published only a day after its massive attack on October 7, 2023.

Israeli opposition leaders from the center, right and left, ranging from Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett to Yair Golan and Benny Gantz, supported the committee’s verdict with respect to Abu Shehadeh. It must be ratified by the Supreme Court, which has historically struck down such decisions.

The decision that the committee handed down on September 23 was not unexpected.

A day earlier, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman told the committee that an article written by Abu Shahadeh voiced support for armed struggle by Hamas, which categorically rejects Israel’s existence.

The petition to disqualify Abu Shahadeh from........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)