Palestinian participation in the upcoming Knesset vote continues to decline with the withdrawal of Sami Abu Shehadeh.
Published on October 2, 2026
Israeli Arab politician Sami Abu Shehadeh has withdrawn his candidacy for the upcoming Israeli elections after the Supreme Court advised him to step down.
The leader of the left-wing Palestinian party Balad announced on Friday that he was withdrawing from his candidacy for the Knesset election on October 27. His withdrawal, which came after the court threatened to disqualify him, comes amid increased efforts by Israeli authorities to prevent Israeli Arab parties from participating.
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Political analysts view Israel’s Arab parties as potential kingmakers in the election, with polls showing neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the main opposition bloc on track to secure an outright majority.
The withdrawal came after the Supreme Court indicated that a majority of its justices agreed with a September 23 decision by Israel’s Central Election Commission to oust him from the race after nationalist political rivals accused him of supporting Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023.
Adalah, a rights organization representing Abu Shehadeh, condemned the court, saying the evidence presented had no legal basis.
“The court has effectively decided to remove a Palestinian leader, an Israeli citizen, from the Knesset,” Adalah said in a statement.
“The court’s clear intention to disqualify him,” it adds, was “a decision that would have set a dangerous legal precedent with devastating consequences.”
Abu Shehadeh served in the Knesset from 2019 to 2022. Balad confirmed that he was withdrawing his candidacy but stressed that the decision did not mark the end of his political fight and that he would remain party leader.
The electoral commission voted to disqualify him at the request of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who accused him of supporting the Hamas attack because of an article published the next day in which Abu Shehadeh called it an “important historical event.”
Addressing the Supreme Court on Thursday, Abu Shehadeh said he did not support “armed struggle” but acknowledged that a paragraph in the article had been poorly worded. He said his intention was to call for the conflict to evolve into a political process.
Adalah called her withdrawal from the elections “a major blow to the right of Palestinian citizens to be represented and to stand for election.”
The electoral commission also banned two Arab electoral lists: the Arab Joint List and the United List, a tripartite alliance that includes Abu Shehadeh’s Balad party. The Supreme Court is scheduled to continue hearing the parties’ appeals on Friday.
Adalah questioned why Palestinian candidates were disqualified while far-right Israeli candidates were “allowed to run” despite openly calling for violence against Palestinians and making statements “amounting to incitement to genocide.”
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