Judges press Abou Shahadeh on failure to condemn Oct. 7, Hamas in election ban hearing

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

A hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify Sami Abu Shehadeh from running in the upcoming Knesset elections, October 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Supreme Court justices press Balad chairman Sami Abou Shahadeh over his statements following October 7, 2023, as he argues against the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify him from the upcoming election.

The hearing focuses on an Arabic-language article Abou Shahadeh published a day after the Hamas-led attack, in which he described the assault, in which invaders from Gaza killed 1,200 people, abducted 251 and sparked the Gaza war, as “an important historic event militarily, politically and strategically” and wrote that others could learn from Hamas’s success in surprising Israel.

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit says that “anyone who reads the article can say, at the very least, that it is detached and contains no condemnation of the massacre.”

The judges ask whether Abou Shahadeh can point to an English-language article in which he called Hamas a terrorist organization or called for the release of the hostages.

His attorney Hassan Jabareen objects: “Are you now judging him for things he didn’t say?”

Abou Shahadeh repeatedly expresses regret over the article, saying it was poorly written and that he should have explicitly condemned the atrocities.

“I have never supported armed struggle against the State of Israel, and I condemn October 7 and all the massacres and atrocities that were committed,” he says in a statement read by Jabareen.

“All my life I have struggled alongside Jewish partners for a better future for everyone, Israelis and Palestinians,” he adds. “If over 30 years I have one unsuccessful article — I agree, it was bad — but at least take into account my worldview, everything I said before and afterward.”

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the CEC have argued that contents of the article constituted support for armed struggle against Israel and negating Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state, grounds for disqualification under the quasi-constituional Basic Law: The Knesset.