The Communist Party of Israel (Maki) and the communist-led Hadash have strongly condemned the decision of Israel’s Central Elections Committee to bar the Joint List and several of its candidates from the upcoming parliamentary elections, describing it as an attack on basic democratic rights and political representation.
On September 23, the committee voted to disqualify the Joint List, comprising Hadash, Balad and Ta’al, from the October 27 Knesset elections.
It also voted to exclude Hadash parliamentarian Ofer Cassif, Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh and the separate United Arab List (Ra’am). The ruling Likud party initiated the disqualification proceedings against the Joint List and Cassif.
In a joint statement, Hadash and Maki denounced the committee’s decision as a blatant violation of the most basic rules of democratic competition. They accused the far right of attempting to suppress Arab electoral participation and silence political forces opposing occupation, racism and discrimination. The two organizations called for a broad protest campaign against the disqualifications and urged Arab citizens and democratic forces to increase their electoral participation.
Ofer Cassif rejected his exclusion as an entirely political decision without legal foundation. “The fascists and their accomplices will not succeed in silencing us,” he declared, reaffirming his determination to continue representing his voters and defending peace, equality and genuine Jewish-Arab partnership.
The Joint List likewise condemned the decisions as politically motivated and discriminatory, announcing that it would challenge them before the Supreme Court and through political and popular mobilization.
The disqualifications are not final. The Supreme Court must approve the exclusion of individual candidates, while the affected electoral lists can appeal their exclusion. The legal rights organization Adalah has announced that it will challenge the committee’s decisions before the court, which is expected to hear the cases next week.
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