Israel Election Committee Disqualifies Ra’am From October Knesset Election

Israel’s Central Elections Committee has voted to disqualify the Arab-led Ra’am party from contesting the country’s upcoming parliamentary election, setting up a possible legal battle before the Supreme Court.

The committee voted 18–5 on Wednesday, September 23, to bar Ra’am, also known as the United Arab List, from the October 27 election. The party is led by Knesset member Mansour Abbas.

The decision followed petitions filed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party and the Choosing Life Forum, an organization representing victims of terrorism.

The petitions argued that Ra’am should be barred under Israel’s election laws, alleging that the party rejects Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, incites racism and supports armed struggle against Israel or actions by terrorist organizations.

Ra’am has rejected the allegations. In submissions to the committee before Wednesday’s vote, the party argued that the petitions did not provide sufficient evidence that it supports armed struggle or had otherwise met the legal grounds for disqualification. The party also pointed to Abbas’s condemnation of the October 7, 2023 attacks and his efforts to help secure the release of Israeli hostages.

The committee’s decision does not necessarily mean Ra’am will be absent from the ballot. The party can appeal the decision to Israel’s Supreme Court, which has the final say on whether an electoral list can be disqualified. The court is expected to consider the election-related disqualification cases before the vote.

The Ra’am decision came amid several other disqualification cases on Wednesday. The committee also voted to bar Knesset member Ofer Cassif from running with the Joint List and disqualified Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. Those cases are also subject to judicial review under Israel’s electoral process.

Ra’am won five seats in Israel’s 2022 parliamentary election. The party’s removal from the October election would therefore affect the field of Arab political representation if the Supreme Court upholds the committee’s decision. For now, however, the disqualification remains subject to the court process, meaning the final composition of the ballot has not yet been determined.