Election Committee Votes to Bar Ofer Cassif, Pending Supreme Court Review

Israel's Central Elections Committee voted 19–5 on Wednesday to disqualify Joint List lawmaker Ofer Cassif from the October 27 Knesset election; two members abstained. The committee accepted a Likud petition under Section 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, alleging that Cassif denied Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state. Cassif rejected the petition, saying it distorted his opposition to government policy. The decision and its reasons must go to the Supreme Court, so the vote does not finally settle his eligibility. Committee chair Justice Noam Sohlberg did not vote.