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
The Supreme Court will hear next Thursday the Central Elections Committee's decisions to bar Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, MK Ofer Cassif and the Joint List from running in the Knesset election. The Abu Shehadeh case will be heard first, followed by the disqualification of Cassif and the Joint List. Both hearings will be held before President Isaac Amit and Justices Barak-Erez, Mintz, Willner, Grosskopf, Stein, Kanfi-Steinitz, Kabub and Kasher. Otzma Yehudit, Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Abu Shehadeh and the Attorney General were summoned to the first hearing, and Likud, Cassif and the Joint List to the second. The committee voted 30 to 4 to disqualify Abu Shehadeh.
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