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Elections Committee Bars Ra’am and Joint List From Vote

By Drooid · Sep 29, 2026, 3:24 PM UTC · How we work

Center

Court Expected to Reverse

Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted 18-5 to bar Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List from the October 27 Knesset election.
The Center notes the Supreme Court, which previously overturned similar bans, is expected to review and reverse the disqualifications.
Committee members, drawn from the outgoing parliament, give the Likud-led coalition a majority on 18-5 vote.
Rights group Adalah will appeal, arguing the bans would disenfranchise over a million Arab citizens.

Left

Double Standard Claims

Israel’s Elections Committee voted 18-5 on Wednesday to bar Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List from the October 27 Knesset election.
Critics say ban shows a double standard, since far-right parties with extremist rhetoric stay on the ballot.
The Joint List, representing one-fifth of Israel’s citizens, faces Supreme Court review after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Mira said evidence fell short and lawyer Ubai Al-Aboudi warned committee ignored calls for ethnic cleansing.

History

Historical Context

Israel’s Supreme Court first barred the far-right Kach party in 1988, upholding the Central Elections Committee’s ban for incitement to racism. Subsequent attempts to disqualify Arab parties—Balad and Ta’al in 2003 and again in 2009, when the committee voted 26-3—were reversed by the Court, establishing a precedent for judicial review of electoral exclusions.

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Court Expected to Reverse

Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted 18-5 to bar Arab parties Ra’am and the Joint List from the October 27 Knesset election.
The Center notes the Supreme Court, which previously overturned similar bans, is expected to review and reverse the disqualifications.
Committee members, drawn from the outgoing parliament, give the Likud-led coalition a majority on 18-5 vote.
Rights group Adalah will appeal, arguing the bans would disenfranchise over a million Arab citizens.

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