An expanded panel of nine Supreme Court justices, led by President Yitzhak Amit, has delivered its ruling on the disqualification of candidates and lists for the 26th Knesset elections. In a unanimous decision, the High Court overturned the Central Elections Committee's ruling to disqualify the Ra'am and Joint List parties. The justices emphasized that the evidence presented to the committee did not meet the evidentiary threshold required for invoking Section 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset.
Additionally, by a majority of seven to two, the candidacy of MK Ofer Cassif was approved, despite the judges' sharp reservations regarding his statements, which they described as repulsive. Justices David Mintz and Alex Stein opined that Cassif should have been disqualified due to support for armed struggle.
The dramatic focus of the hearing centered on the candidacy of Balad chairman, Sami Abu Shehadeh. According to N12 reports, the justices sharply criticized an article he published following the events of October 7. President Amit noted during the hearing that there was a consensus among the panel members that the remarks were painful and nauseating. Faced with clear indications from the judges that a disqualification was imminent, Abu Shehadeh announced the withdrawal of his candidacy, effectively ending the legal proceeding against him.
At the start of the hearings, President Amit emphasized the importance of the right to vote and be elected, noting that the power of disqualification is a double-edged sword, and that its broad application could damage democratic values. Outside the courtroom, verbal confrontations occurred between protesters and the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who represented his party's position calling for the disqualification. The Balad party stated that Abu Shehadeh's withdrawal does not constitute a retreat from its positions, but rather a response to the legal reality that developed in the Supreme Court.