Israel's election panel bars Ra'am and the Joint List
Israel's Central Elections Committee voted on Wednesday to bar Ra'am and the Joint List from the 27 October parliamentary election. The Financial Times and i24NEWS both report that the lists can appeal to the Supreme Court and that the decisions are not final. i24NEWS put the vote against Ra'am at 18 to 5. Separate votes also named Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh.
Geopolitics··Morning
Two Arab-led lists are off the draft ballot
Israel's Central Elections Committee voted on Wednesday 23 September to disqualify both Ra'am and the Joint List from the parliamentary election set for 27 October. The Financial Times reported that the Joint List is an alliance of Hadash, Ta'al and Balad, that both lists can appeal to the Supreme Court, and that the decision is not yet final. i24NEWS reported the same Wednesday votes and the same appeal path. It added the tally against Ra'am, 18 to 5, and said the panel separately disqualified the Joint List as a slate. The two newsrooms therefore establish one event: a committee bar on both lists, with the court still between that vote and the ballot.[1], [2]
The allegations and the denials
i24NEWS reported the case put to the committee. Likud, Otzma Yehudit and the Choosing Life forum alleged that Ra'am supported armed struggle by a terrorist organisation and rejected Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state. The Financial Times account, drawing on the same day's reporting, says Ra'am denies that. Its leader, Mansour Abbas, called the decision political and said the party would go to court. Israeli law, i24NEWS noted, permits disqualification for rejecting the state's existence as Jewish and democratic, for inciting racism, or for supporting armed struggle against Israel by a terrorist organisation or an enemy state. The Supreme Court has required clear evidence that a prohibited position is central to a list's activity, and it has overturned earlier committee bans on Arab parties.[1], [2]
Two candidates still need the court
The committee's Wednesday work did not stop at the two slates. The Financial Times reported a separate vote to disqualify the Joint List as a whole, and said barring Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh requires Supreme Court approval before those two candidates can be kept off the ballot. i24NEWS drew the same line. Appeals against the full-slate bans go to the court, while the candidate bans are not effective until the court approves them. The court is expected to hear the disqualification cases next week. Its earlier practice of overturning committee bans on Arab parties is the constraint both reports put on Wednesday's votes: the panel has acted, and the ballot has not yet changed.[1], [2]
