Supreme Court Allows Ra’am, Joint List and Ofer Cassif to Run in Election (Updated)
Updates
- October 2, 2026: Israel’s Supreme Court on Friday allowed Ra’am, the Joint List and MK Ofer Cassif to contest elections to the 26th Knesset, overturning Central Elections Committee disqualifications. The nine-justice panel unanimously reinstated both lists and approved Cassif’s candidacy by seven votes to two, with Justices David Mintz and Alex Stein dissenting. The majority found that the evidence did not meet the strict legal threshold required to disqualify Cassif or the lists. All nine justices condemned Cassif’s statements and actions; the dissenting judges considered his conduct sufficient to establish support for armed struggle against Israel.
- On October 2, the Supreme Court recorded Sami Abu Shehadeh’s withdrawal from the candidate list and closed his disqualification proceeding without deciding its merits.
Original report
Yisrael Beytenu said Wednesday that its representatives on the Central Elections Committee will vote to disqualify Ra'am, the Joint List, Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh from the coming Knesset election. The party tied its position to its demand that eliminating Hamas be a central security objective of the next government. Its announcement concerns how its representatives intend to vote on the disqualification requests; the committee has not announced a decision on those lists or candidates in this statement.
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