They Are Telling Us What They Believe

"The only democracy in the Middle East" strikes again, as Michael Hauser Tov, Chen Maanit, Noa Shpigel and Jack Khoury write:

Israel's Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday to disqualify Mansour Abbas' United Arab List slate from running in the election, as well as the Joint List, which consists of the parties Hadash, Ta'al and Balad. The vote came after left-wing Knesset member Ofer Cassif of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh were banned earlier the same day. These decisions may be reversed by appeal to the High Court of Justice.

In its disqualification of the UAL – which was part of former prime ministers Naftali Bennett's and Yair Lapid's government – the committee said the party rejects Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, incites racism and expresses support for an armed struggle against the country. Last month, centrist politician and former Deputy Public Defense Minister Yoav Segalovitz joined the party as number two. Additionally, the committee disqualified the Joint List on the same grounds as the UAL. 18 voted in favor of the disqualification and five opposed. The ban on Cassif, on the grounds that he denies Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, was objected to by Israel's attorney general. The committee also voted to disqualify Sami Abu Shehadeh, chairman of the Balad party, over an article he wrote the day after the October 7 attack, on the grounds that he supported an armed struggle or actions of a terror organization against Israel. Unusually, Central Elections Committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Noam Solberg also voted in favor of disqualifying Abu Shehadeh. 

Under Israel's Basic Law on the Knesset, a candidate or party may be barred from an election for rejecting Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting racism or supporting armed struggle against Israel by an enemy state or terrorist organization. Disqualifying a party or candidate from running in Knesset elections is a far-reaching step, intended to be used with maximum caution and restraint due to the fact that disqualification runs counter to the fundamental right to vote and be elected, and infringes on freedom of expression. The bid to disqualify Abu Shehadeh was filed by Itamar Ben-Gvir's far-right Otzma Yehudit party over the article, in which the leader described the Hamas attack as "an important historic event militarily, politically and strategically." Abu Shehadeh said he regretted writing the article at the center of the request to disqualify him. "I wrote it on October 7, and I didn't know the scale of the atrocities. If I had known, I would not have written it this way," he said. "I agree with the justified criticism of the article. I should not have written it, and I should have clearly condemned [the attack]." "My intention was for the military campaign to be halted and for the parties to move to a diplomatic track led by the Palestinian Authority and Arab states," he explained.

All Jewish-majority opposition parties have expressed support for Abu Shehadeh's ouster, including the center-left Democrats party chairman, Yair Golan. "There are no concessions for Abu Shehadeh and no concessions for Ben-Gvir – both should be disqualified," Golan said in a statement. According to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the article might have constituted support for an armed struggle by a terrorist organization against Israel, which would be suitable grounds for disqualification. Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party went one step further than the other opposition parties, saying that it would vote for the disqualification of all majority-Arab parties running for the upcoming Knesset elections, not just Abu Shehadeh.

Discussing Likud's request to disqualify Cassif, attorney Ilan Bombach said Cassif had acted contrary to Israel's objectives as a Jewish and democratic state. "He wanted to repeal the Law of Return. He approached countries and said that we are committing 'genocide,' and called for the release of Marwan Barghouti, who was convicted in three terror attacks in which five people were killed," Bombach said. Cassif said that portraying his opposition to the government's policies as support for the enemy distorted reality. "The disqualification requests are intended to achieve the complete delegitimization of Arab society and Israeli-Arab partnership, and to perpetuate totalitarian rule and majority tyranny," he said. He added: "There is no contradiction between the absolute condemnation I have expressed of the Gaza massacre and the war crimes being committed by the Israeli government, and the absolute condemnation I have expressed of the October 7 massacre and Hamas' horrific crimes."

Cassif's attorney Hassan Jabareen responded: "Bombach complained that Cassif said there is genocide in Gaza. There are at least a million people in Israel who say it's genocide. Are they illegal? Is it a crime? Is a member of Knesset not allowed to say something that an ordinary citizen is allowed to say?" Jabareen added: "There is no case for disqualifying Cassif. Cassif has made no statement supporting armed struggle against Israel." During the election committee's session on Wednesday, left-wing activists protested outside the Likud's headquarters in Tel Aviv against the effort to ban the lists, saying that they "reject the racist campaign against the Arab public and the idea that democracy is only for Jews."

The Central Elections Committee's largely political composition, with most members stemming from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, was expected to approve disqualification requests against majority-Arab parties, the United Arab List and the Joint List – and potentially against the center-left Democrats as well – while rejecting requests against right-wing parties. Later on Wednesday, the committee will also discuss the coalition's petitions to bar Mansour Abbas' United Arab List, which argue that the party supports Hamas' armed struggle against Israel and rejects Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state. The petition filed by Likud claims that although the UAL has integrated itself into Israel's parliamentary system, Abbas has acknowledged that he deliberately adapts his public statements to the legal restrictions governing participation in elections in order to avoid disqualification. The UAL said in response that the petitions include no evidence pointing to the party's alleged support for an armed struggle by a terrorist organization or an enemy state.

See also here:

Israel's Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday to bar two candidates from running in the October election, along with all the Arab parties, prompting appeals to the High Court and exposing divisions within the opposition over efforts to disqualify candidates and Arab-majority parties. The committee voted 31-4 to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh over an article he wrote immediately after the October 7 attack, on the grounds that it constituted support for armed struggle or the actions of a terrorist organization against Israel. It voted 19-5, with two abstentions, to bar left-wing lawmaker Ofer Cassif of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party on the grounds that he rejects Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state. Both decisions can be challenged before the High Court, which will ultimately determine whether the candidates may run. Abu Shehadeh, the third candidate on the Joint List slate, said he would appeal the decision, accusing the committee of seeking to silence Arab voters and exclude them from the political system.

"The Elections Committee's decision today to disqualify my candidacy is not directed only against me, but seeks to disqualify the voice of an entire public, exclude it from the political arena and reduce voter turnout in Arab society," he said. "We will petition the High Court to defend our right and our public's right to representation and political participation," Abu Shehadeh added, saying he would continue his "consistent and nonviolent struggle for freedom, justice and equality for all citizens." Cassif called his disqualification "a predetermined decision with no legal basis," accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition and its allies of using the Elections Committee against government opponents. "I will continue to fight for the representation of my voters and for the values of peace, equality and genuine Jewish-Arab partnership in the next Knesset as well," Cassif said. 

The votes highlighted a divide among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents over the disqualification proceedings. Democrats chairman Yair Golan backed Abu Shehadeh's disqualification while saying his party would oppose efforts to ban the United Arab List and Joint List in their entirety. "We will resolutely defend the right of Israel's Arab citizens to vote, be elected and be partners in leading the country," Golan said, adding that his party would not allow "an entire public to be made illegitimate." Golan said, however, that Abu Shehadeh's remarks following October 7 crossed a line, while Democrats faction chair Efrat Rayten said his statements amounted to support for armed struggle. Both drew a parallel with far-right Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir, with Golan saying, "There are no concessions for Abu Shehadeh and no concessions for Ben-Gvir – both should be disqualified."

The Democrats' position drew a sharp response from the Joint List. Its chairman, Yousef Jabareen, accused Golan of joining what he described as a "racist and anti-democratic" disqualification campaign led by Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu. "Anyone who seeks the votes of the Arab public cannot support denying its right to political representation," Jabareen said. "Democracy for Jews alone is not democracy." A senior Joint List official separately described the Democrats' support for Abu Shehadeh's disqualification as "bizarre" and "condescending," criticizing the party for joining a petition submitted by Otzma Yehudit. The Together party, headed by Naftali Bennett, also said it supported barring Abu Shehadeh, while Yisrael Beiteinu said it would support disqualifying both candidates as well as the United Arab List and Joint List.

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, by contrast, said his party would largely sit out the proceedings, describing Elections Committee disqualification hearings as "a show for the voters." "I voted in the past to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, just as I voted in the past to disqualify Ben-Gvir," Lapid told Army Radio. "The court always overturns it, so we decided that we'll simply stop participating in this game." Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara opposed Cassif's disqualification, saying the evidence did not establish grounds for barring him despite statements and actions she strongly opposed. Adalah, which represented Cassif, said it expected the High Court to overturn the decision. Baharav-Miara took a different position on Abu Shehadeh, saying his October 2023 article could constitute support for armed struggle by a terrorist organization and provide grounds for disqualification. Abu Shehadeh told the committee that he regretted the article and would not have written it as he did had he known the scale of the October 7 atrocities. He denied ever supporting terrorism or armed struggle against Israel.

Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Elections Committee, took the unusual step of voting for Abu Shehadeh's disqualification. Committee chairmen have generally refrained from voting in such cases for roughly two decades. Sohlberg said he had initially intended to follow that practice but found Abu Shehadeh's response to the allegations insufficient, saying the case was clear enough that he could not justify abstaining. Ben-Gvir, whose party filed the petition against Abu Shehadeh, said the evidence warranted his disqualification and argued that the committee should have voted unanimously to bar him. The committee is also considering petitions to bar the United Arab List and Joint List, as well as requests targeting Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism, Zehut and the Democrats.

Causing Joshua Leifer to write:

If their recent conduct is any indication, many in the anti-Netanyahu opposition would prefer to lose the upcoming election – allowing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remain in power – than to accept the basic democratic principle that the votes of Palestinian citizens of Israel are equal to those of Israeli Jews. While polls show that the opposition has no path to a majority without support from at least one of the Arab-led parties, opposition leaders are vowing not to form a coalition with them – and are now joining in the attacks on their legitimacy.

Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the secular, right-wing populist Yisrael Beitenu party, announced on Wednesday his support for barring the Joint List, Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh, and Mansour Abbas' United Arab List from running in the election. Yet it is not only Lieberman, long the more xenophobic pole of the anti-Netanyahu camp, who has taken aim at the Arab-led parties and their representatives. Haaretz reported earlier Wednesday that members of Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party have pushed him to declare that he will not form a government with Abbas' United Arab List – in which Yoav Segalovitz, a former deputy police commissioner and Zionist Israeli, occupies second place on the party roster. Eisenkot has repeatedly said that Abbas' UAL does not meet his minimum criteria for joining a potential coalition that he would lead. Even Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing Democrats, announced his support on Wednesday for barring Balad's Abu Shehadeh from running.

There is a great deal that distinguishes the leaders of the Arab parties and their ideologies. Abbas has turned his Islamist party into a platform for Arab-Jewish partnership and speaks in terms of peace, mutual recognition, and the common ground of shared citizenship. Abu Shehadeh, by contrast, wrote on October 8, as fighting still raged in Israel's south, that Israel's humiliation at the hands of Hamas might be a model for others – that "if small, besieged Gaza managed to do this at this level, then others can do it even more effectively and simply." Abu Shehadeh's comments in praise of the Hamas attacks are morally wrong. He has since apologized, and in a social media post on Wednesday, wrote that he opposes armed struggle. Yet in any democracy worth its name, the freedom to express beliefs that others find abhorrent is a fundamental freedom. Moreover, few legal experts believe his statements are sufficient evidence for disqualification, and there is no precedent for barring a candidate for expressing support for armed struggle against Israel.

The attempt to bar the Arab-led parties is one of Israel's perverse election-time rituals. Even when the election committee does bar parties, the decisions are often reversed by the Supreme Court. Only in very rare cases have bans on parties or their leaders been upheld. On Wednesday, the committee – whose composition reflects the composition of the current coalition – voted to bar both the United Arab List and Joint List from running, including Cassif and Abu Shehadeh. Absent a significant deviation from the Supreme Court's historically cautious record, these decisions will likely be reversed too. Still, the cumulative effect of the attacks on the Arab-led parties and their representatives is to reinforce the notion that Arab political participation is illegitimate writ large.

The process also reflects a racist double standard. Where Arab-led parties are closely scrutinized for their support, or lack thereof, for Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state," extremist Jewish parties are not. Their participation is taken as a given. It was not the supporters of the UAL, Hadash, or Balad who have, over the last few years, rioted outside military bases, besieged the homes of Supreme Court judges, and threatened the lives of institutional gatekeepers like the attorney general, but those of the right-wing and religious parties that comprise Netanyahu's outgoing coalition. Some may argue that the opposition is once again falling into Netanyahu's trap – getting pulled along in the perpetual moving-right show that is Israeli politics – by joining in the attacks on the legitimacy of the Arab-led parties. But that would be to let the leaders of the anti-Netanyahu opposition off the hook. They are telling us what they believe. Given the choice between Netanyahu's return to the prime minister's office and a government in which the Arab-led parties play a role, they appear to prefer the former.