Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh drops Israeli election bid after Supreme Court warning

Court recommendation and voluntary withdrawal

Balad party leader Sami Abu Shehadeh withdrew his candidacy for the 27 October 2026 Knesset elections following pressure from a nine-judge panel of the Supreme Court of Israel. The court convened on 1 October 2026 to examine an appeal against his disqualification by the Central Elections Committee. Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit informed the politician that a majority of the bench favored his exclusion and set a deadline of 08:00 local time on Friday, 2 October 2026, for Abu Shehadeh to withdraw voluntarily or face a formal disqualification ruling.

Balad announced that Abu Shehadeh agreed to step aside out of political responsibility to avoid a judicial precedent that could harm other Palestinian-Israeli candidates. The party confirmed that he will remain as party chairman to lead its political campaigns and pledged to present the situation before international bodies and human rights organizations.

Allegations and petition background

The Central Elections Committee voted to disqualify Abu Shehadeh following a formal petition filed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party. The petition focused on an article Abu Shehadeh published on 8 October 2023, in which he described the Hamas attacks against Israel as an important historical event from a military, political, and strategic standpoint.

Ben-Gvir appeared at the Thursday hearing in Jerusalem wearing a lawyer's robe to argue against Abu Shehadeh's eligibility for parliament.

Sami Abu Shehadeh cannot be a member of Knesset. A supporter of terrorism belongs in prison, not in the Knesset.

Abu Shehadeh and his legal team, led by Hassan Jabareen of the Adalah legal center, rejected the charge that he supported armed resistance against Israel. The former lawmaker cited his 30-year record in human rights advocacy, arguing that his writings had been taken out of context and that he opposes acts of violence. When asked by the panel whether he considers Hamas a terrorist group, Abu Shehadeh stated his position on its activities.

Hamas, as an organization, carries out many terrorist acts that I oppose.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara endorsed Abu Shehadeh's disqualification on the grounds that the article expressed support for armed struggle. However, she opposed disqualification petitions against other Arab candidates and party lists.

Wider election appeals and political landscape

Abu Shehadeh represented the Joint List in the Knesset from September 2019 until November 2022, when Balad did not secure enough votes to cross the electoral threshold. Arab citizens of Israel make up roughly 20% of the country's population. Current polling data indicates that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the main opposition bloc commands a parliamentary majority ahead of the 27 October vote.

The Supreme Court is also reviewing disqualification decisions passed by the Central Elections Committee against Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif, the Hadash-Ta'al alliance, and the Ra'am party. Cassif faces accusations of denying Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state and describing military operations in Gaza as genocide. Ra'am was previously a partner in the 2021 to 2022 governing coalition headed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. The court is scheduled to issue its decisions on the remaining candidates and party lists on Sunday.