Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh has been disqualified from running in the upcoming Knesset elections by a vote of 31 to 4, according to The Zioneer.
The Central Elections Committee voted 31-4 on Wednesday to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from the upcoming Knesset elections, The Zioneer reports. The decision followed a day of hearings and political statements from across the spectrum.
Earlier Wednesday morning at 07:49 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that the Knesset committee convened to debate petitions to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, along with the Ra'am party and the Joint List. At the same time, Abu Shehadeh joined the hearing via Zoom. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir opened the hearing by calling for Abu Shehadeh's disqualification, stating he 'must be in prison,' according to Channel 12. The Together party led by Naftali Bennett announced it would vote to disqualify him, citing his support for the October 7, 2023 massacre. MK Naama Lazimi (The Democrats) also backed the move on IDF Radio, calling his statements 'despicable,' as reported by journalist Amit Segal.
Abu Shehadeh's candidacy has been challenged over statements he made following the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, which critics say amount to support for terrorism. As The Zioneer previously reported, Abu Shehadeh has argued that his words were misinterpreted, claiming his October 8 article was mistranslated and that he was unaware of the full scale of the massacre at the time of writing.
The disqualification is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court, which will review the decision.
8 developments
- StrongAbu Shehadeh tells panel his Oct 8 warning was mistranslated as 'battle', denies praising Hamas
- StrongAbu Shehadeh tells elections committee he did not support armed struggle
- StrongAG representative: lack of article disclaimer reveals candidate's real-time thinking
- DevelopingElections Committee disqualifies Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from Knesset run
Source and signal
- Open-source intake