Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh said he was unaware of the full scale of the October 7 massacre when he wrote a post the day after the attack, and regrets writing it, according to The Zioneer.
Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh on Wednesday said he was unaware of the full scale of the October 7, 2023 massacre when he wrote a social media post the day after the attack, according to The Zioneer. He expressed regret over writing the post. The statement comes one day after Channel 14 published video footage showing Abu Shehadeh praising the Hamas-led massacre, directly contradicting his earlier denials.
The Zioneer reported on Tuesday that the footage, filmed two days after the attack, showed Abu Shehadeh expressing pride in Hamas terrorists and praising the massacre. That report followed earlier coverage on September 18, when Abu Shehadeh told the Central Elections Committee that his October 8 article had been mistranslated and that he was unaware of the massacre's scale at the time of writing. The video appeared to undercut those claims.
As The Zioneer has previously reported, the committee testimony saw Abu Shehadeh argue that his words were misinterpreted as support for armed struggle. The Channel 14 footage, which circulated widely, showed him speaking favorably of the attack in Arabic.
It remains unclear whether Abu Shehadeh's latest statement — which acknowledges the post without repeating his earlier mistranslation claim — will satisfy critics. The claim of ignorance, given his position as a party leader, has not been independently verified, and the video evidence has not been publicly addressed in detail by the Balad chairman.
4 developments
- DevelopingElections Committee disqualifies Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from Knesset run
- StrongAttorney Yosef Jabarin defends Sami Abu Shehadeh at CEC disqualification hearings
- StrongAbu Shehadeh tells panel his Oct 8 warning was mistranslated as 'battle', denies praising Hamas
- StrongAG representative: lack of article disclaimer reveals candidate's real-time thinking
Source and signal
- Open-source intake