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Joint List

From left: Balad chairman Sami Abou Shehadeh, MK Ahmad Tibi and MK Ofer Cassif arrive at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem for a hearing on the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify candidates and parties from running in the upcoming Knesset elections, October 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 2, 2026, 5:47 pm
Supreme Court unanimously overturns election panel’s ban on Arab parties
After rejecting Balad chief, judges say Ra’am, Joint List, its MK Ofer Cassif don’t meet criteria on racist incitement, support for armed conflict against Israel to warrant ban
By Jeremy Sharon and Noam Lehmann
Balad party head Sami Abou Shahadeh gestures in a video statement published on October 2, 2026. (Screen capture: Facebook/Sami Abou Shahadeh)
October 2, 2026, 12:45 pm
Balad party leader: Leaving campaign was ‘most difficult decision of my political career’
After Sami Abou Shahadeh withdraws from election race, Eisenkot offers mock condolences to Likud for loss of ‘true partner’; High Court was about to enforce ban on Arab party head due to his article seen as backing Oct. 7 attack
By ToI Staff
Sami Abou Shehadeh attends a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify him from running in the upcoming Knesset elections, October 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
October 2, 2026, 3:04 am
Facing ban from High Court, Balad’s Abou Shehadeh ends election candidacy
Balad says Abou Shehadeh to remain leader of party, Joint List will continue to work to oust Netanyahu; Ben Gvir celebrates removal, laments court gave him window to quit
By ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Yaniv Hayun, one of the Israelis who helped subdue a flydubai copilot who allegedly sought to crash a plane full of Israelis, on the passengers' return to Ben Gurion Airport on September 30, 2026. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
October 1, 2026, 8:11 pm
Netanyahu turns the flydubai near-disaster into a perfect campaign prop
As the PM spins a thwarted attack to project strength and potentially boost his poll ratings, the prospect arises of a rotation agreement with Eisenkot to break the looming electoral deadlock
By Tal Schneider
Yousef Jabareen submit the Joint List slate to the Central Elections Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 28, 2026, 6:00 am
The ban on Arab parties will likely be reversed. To its critics, that isn’t exactly a relief
Often, the most extreme measures — like banning Arab-led parties from the election — get tossed, but their impact can live on
By Ben Sales
Balad chair Sami Abou Shehadeh appears on a screen behind the Central Elections Committee during a disqualification hearing at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 23, 2026, 4:29 pm
Election panel disqualifies all Arab parties, in move likely to be overturned; Balad leader also barred
High Court expected to nix bans on Ra’am, Joint List after politicians cite alleged support for terror, denial of Israel as Jewish state; Sohlberg, AG, all opposition parties back disqualification of Balad’s Abou Shahadeh in rare consensus
By Ariela Karmel
MK Ahmad Tibi attends a Hadash–Ta'al faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
September 20, 2026, 12:18 am
Senior Arab MK backs replacing Knesset speaker after election, hints minority government an option
Joint List’s Ahmad Tibi says alliance will back replacing Amir Ohana to give opposition control of parliamentary agenda, and will ‘do more’ than recommend a Netanyahu rival as PM
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff
Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas (left) and Ta'al chief Ahmad Tibi walk outside the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, June 3, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 14, 2026, 12:54 am
Netanyahu’s Likud says it will petition election panel to ban Arab-majority parties
Ruling party says Ra’am and Joint List ‘harm IDF soldiers’ and won’t call Hamas, Hezbollah terror groups; request unlikely to pass High Court, which has nixed previous efforts
By ToI Staff
Left to right: Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Avigdor Liberman. (Composite photo; credits: Flash90)
September 10, 2026, 8:55 pm
Main opposition factions ink surplus-vote deals in bid to maximize Knesset representation
PM claims agreements show his rivals ‘will form left-wing government’; Joint List No. 2 says alliance of Arab parties to sign deal with Ra’am, but neither makes formal announcement
By Ariela Karmel
Jafar Farah (R) and his wife Asmahan Atwan Farah drink beer at the Libira Brewery pub in Haifa on February 23, 2017. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)
September 3, 2026, 10:26 am
Arab party candidate under pressure to withdraw over sexual harassment allegations
Seven women have reportedly complained about Jafar Farah, who is fourth on the Joint List, but his Hadash party has not removed him
By ToI Staff
Ra’am chairman MK Mansour Abbas addresses party delegates at their convention in Taibe, August 22, 2026. (Facebook)
August 22, 2026, 11:34 pm
Ra’am’s Abbas says Palestinian state ‘a reality,’ drawing outrage from Zionist parties
Arab party chairman tells delegates he wants to be part of the opposition ‘change bloc,’ but immediately draws censure from that bloc’s leaders
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Left to right: Hadash chairman Yousef Jabareen, Balad chair Sami Abou Shahadeh and Ta'al head Ahmad Tibi. (Flash90)
August 19, 2026, 8:37 pm
Arab-majority Hadash, Ta’al and Balad parties agree on joint run after striking deal
Combined election slate would see Hadash’s Yousef Jabareen at the helm, followed by Ta’al’s Ahmad Tibi and then Balad’s Sami Abou Shahadeh, after Tibi demanded better conditions
By ToI Staff
MK Ahmad Tibi attends a Hadash–Ta'al faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on June 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 9, 2026, 7:44 pm
Negotiations over Arab joint list hit snag as Ahmad Tibi rejects proposed slate
Mooted list would give Ta’al smallest Knesset representation of three parties. Hadash chairman Jabareen calls proposal ‘an expression of the public’s will’
By Sam Sokol
Party leaders Ayman Odeh (center left) and Ahmad Tibi (center right) seen during a Hadash–Ta'al faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 10, 2026, 7:08 pm
Arab parties Hadash, Ta’al, Balad announce joint electoral slate — without Ra’am
Factions say they are ‘leaving the door open’ for Mansour Abbas’s party to join them before the election; former MK Michal Rozin to run in The Democrats primary
By Ariela Karmel
Leaders of the Arab parties celebrate after signing an agreement to work towards a Joint List in Sakhnin, January 22, 2026. (Courtesy of Hadash-Ta'al)
May 25, 2026, 12:40 am
Arab parties urge Ra’am to join efforts to revive Joint List; Ra’am tepidly agrees
Hadash, Ta’al, Balad seek unity due to ‘existential dangers’ to Arab public and despite ‘significant gaps’ with Islamist party, which says it must retain its freedom of action
By ToI Staff
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