Israeli Arab leader quits election under pressure from court over October 7 remarks

The head of a left-wing Arab party ‌dropped out ofIsrael's election after the Supreme Court indicatedjudges were likely to disqualify him for an article that described the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks as an "important historical event". Sami Abu Shehadeh has denied that his remarks amounted to endorsing the attack by fighters who killed 1,200 ‌people and brought 251 hostages to Gaza in the deadliest day in Israeli history. The attack precipitated the Israeli assault on ‌Gaza in which 74,000 Palestinians were killed.

Israel's Central Election Commission had sought to ban Shehadeh from competing in the election, along with four parties seeking to represent Israel's 20% Arab minority, and Ofer Cassif, a Jewish Communist lawmaker who supports Palestinian causes. In a ruling on Friday, the court overturned the other bans, but said a majority ⁠had ​been likely to vote to uphold ⁠the ban on Shehadeh, before he withdrew making the question moot. Judges had agreed unanimously that statements by Abu Shehadeh were "painful, disturbing and revolting", it said.

Abu ⁠Shehadeh told Reuters the decision showed that "in the Jewish state, there are two different laws for citizens according to their identity," saying Jewish far-right figures had ​not been barred from standing despite remarks that amount to hate speech against Palestinians. "The margins for political activity, for ⁠freedom of speech for the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel, are becoming narrower," he said.

Israel's far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has been allowed to stand despite a past conviction ⁠for ​inciting racial hatred, said his Jewish Power movement had "managed to oust Sami Abu Shehadeh and stop him from entering the Knesset." "We will not allow supporters of terrorism and those who praise martyrs to operate freely in Israel's Knesset."

The October 27 election is ⁠Israel's first since the Hamas-led attack and Gaza war that followed.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing ruling coalition has used images of Arab party ⁠leaders in campaign literature, among ⁠tactics that critics say amount to demonising Israeli Arabs to win votes. In a sarcastic message on X, prominent Netanyahu opponent Gadi Eisenkot expressed condolences over the disqualification of the prime minister's "ally", a reference ‌to the role that opponents ‌say stoking fear over Israeli Arabs plays in Netanyahu's campaign.