From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Attorney general says elections panel should seriously weigh ban on Balad leader
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman tell the Central Elections Committee that it should “seriously consider” disqualifying Balad party head Sami Abu Shehadeh, while rejecting other petitions to bar parties from running in the upcoming election.
The two cite an article written by Abu Shehadeh one day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities, which ostensibly expressed support for armed struggle by terror groups against the State of Israel.
Baharav-Miara and Aisman say that Abu Shehadeh’s response to the accusations against him do not allay concerns that his article reflected “an expression of support for armed struggle against Israel, with the most severe timing.”
Basic Law: The Knesset explicitly prohibits anyone expressing support for armed struggle against the State of Israel from running for Knesset.
Regarding requests to ban entire party lists, Baharav-Miara and Aisman determine that there is no legal basis for disqualifying the Religious Zionism and Zehut party, the Democrats, Ra’am, Otzma Yehudit, the Joint List and Balad, as well as MK Ofer Cassif.
The far-right Otzma Yehudit party submitted the request to ban Abu Shehadeh, while the Democrats requested that Otzma Yehudit be banned from running in the elections for denying “the existence of the State of Israel as a democratic state,” and inciting racism, both of which are also prohibited by Basic Law: The Knesset.
The attorney general’s position makes it more likely that the Supreme Court will uphold Abu Shahadeh’s disqualification if the Central Election’s Committee votes to bar him from running.
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