Central Elections Committee opens disqualification hearings for Balad head Sami Abu Shehadeh

The Central Elections Committee has begun hearings to consider disqualifying former MK Sami Abu Shehadeh (Balad) from running in elections, primarily over an article he published on October 8, 2023. Otzma Yehudit filed the request, arguing that Shehadeh's article, which described the October 7 attack as an “important historic event,” praised the attack and encouraged armed struggle against Israel. Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman stated that the evidence appeared to show Shehadeh expressed support for a terrorist organization's armed struggle, though they did not explicitly recommend disqualification. Shehadeh denies supporting political violence, claiming the article analyzed intelligence failure and that he was unaware of the full scale of atrocities at the time of publication. Any committee decision to disqualify Shehadeh would require Supreme Court approval.