Otzma Yehudit and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir submitted a formal request to the Central Elections Committee to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from running for the Knesset. The request cites an article Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023, in which he called the Hamas attack a 'historic event' and urged others to replicate its 'success,' as well as subsequent statements praising the October 7 massacre and referring to Hamas terrorists as 'resistance fighters.' Ben Gvir said the move aims to end the presence of terror supporters in the Knesset.
Otzma Yehudit and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have submitted a formal request to the Central Elections Committee to disqualify Balad party chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from running for the next Knesset. The petition, filed through attorneys Ze'ev Wolf and David Bably, invokes Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, which allows disqualification of candidates who deny Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state or who support armed struggle against it.
The centerpiece of the request is an article Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023 — while Hamas terrorists were still inside Israeli territory holding hostages — in which he described the October 7 massacre as 'an important military, political, and strategic historic event' and wrote: 'If small, besieged Gaza could do this… others can do it more efficiently and simply.' The filing also cites statements made after the massacre, in which Abu Shehadeh called the fighting in Gaza a 'legendary achievement' and referred to Hamas terrorists as 'resistance fighters.'
The request references legal precedents, including a ruling by former Supreme Court President Esther Hayut, which held that Balad's legislative agenda negates Israel's core Jewish character, and comments by former President Aharon Barak regarding the disqualification of candidates who legitimize armed struggle against the state.
Minister Ben Gvir stated: 'Until today, the Supreme Court has approved one after another of all the terror supporters who sought to run for the Knesset, contrary to the language of the law. The time has come for a systemic and conceptual change. We will put an end to the phenomenon of terror supporters taking over the Knesset. Abu Shehadeh is invited to join his friend Azmi Bishara.'
The disqualification request follows a series of incidents involving Abu Shehadeh, including a confrontation in Jaffa last month in which an Israeli citizen pursued him, as previously reported by The Zioneer. The legal team argues that the evidence provides the 'clear and unequivocal mass' required for disqualification and that after October 7, there is no room for interpretation that renders the disqualification clause a dead letter.
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