Israeli Central Election Committee bans candidacy by Arab parties, awaits Supreme Court decision

The repercussions of the Israeli Parliament's Central Election Committee's decision, at the meeting held last week, to ban the "Joint List" consisting of the "Raam Party" led by Mansur Abbas as well as the "Hadash", "Taal" and "Balad" parties, from participating in the elections continue. While the Supreme Court is expected to make the final decision, it is emphasized that not lifting the ban will benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even if his votes decrease.

The reason for the decision taken by the Central Election Committee, a body under the control of the far-right Netanyahu government, with a vote of 18 to 5, was the claim that these parties support the armed struggle against the country and deny the existence of the country as a Jewish state. The committee also decided to block the candidacies of Hadash MP Ofer Cassif and Balad Party leader Sami Abu Shehade.

All eyes on the court

The same committee rejected the demands of the government's far-right partners, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, to ban their parties from the elections.

This ban decision became the target of criticism from different segments of Israel, as well as from the Arab population of approximately 2 million. While it was argued that the decisions, which caused great reactions among Israel's left wing and some of its supporters abroad, were a blow to the country's democratic system, opponents of Israel interpreted these bans as "another evidence that the state is fundamentally racist."

The final decision on whether the parties and candidates in question can participate in the elections is expected to be made by the Israeli Supreme Court. An analysis in the Israel-based newspaper "Times of Israel" noted that the Supreme Court is expected to lift these bans, as it did in similar cases in 2019 and 2022. In the article signed by Ben Sales, it is reminded that the Supreme Court lifted the ban on the Balad-Ra'am party in 2019 and allowed Balad to participate in the elections again in 2022.

The real reason is votes!

Opinion polls conducted in Israel before the elections on October 27 show that neither the current government nor the opposition wing will be able to reach the support of 61 MPs required to form a government in the 120-seat Israeli Parliament (Knesset). According to Channel 12's latest poll, the opposition bloc led by former chief of staff and leader of the Yaşar Party Gadi Eisenkot is ahead of Netanyahu's ruling bloc with a prediction of 54 seats, while the Prime Minister's front remains at 50-52 seats. Small parties are the key to a coalition government.

According to the survey, if the elections were held today, Eisenkot's Yaşar Party would be the largest party in the parliament with 23 seats. Netanyahu's Likud will be in second place with 20 seats, and Naftali Bennett's "Together" party will be in third place with 13 seats. "Democrats" led by Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman's "Our Home Israel" party are expected to get 9 seats each. In Netanyahu's ruling bloc, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism is expected to win 8 seats and Shas is expected to win 7 seats. 6 seats are predicted for "Jewish Power", led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and 5 seats for "Religious Zionism".

While the United Arab List is expected to win 5 seats, the "Reserves Party" led by Yoaz Hendel, the "People of Israel" and Beny Gantz's "Blue and White" are estimated to win 4 seats each.

in lock position

It is claimed that Mansur Abbas, who joined the coalition in 2021, may act together with the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, which will enable Arab votes to take Eisenkot one step ahead of Netanyahu in the race to form a coalition. The prolongation of coalition negotiations after elections in which there were no Arab parties, the failure to form a government, and the holding of new elections are beneficial to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu also met with Haftar's son!

Italian newspaper "Il Foglio" wrote that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Saddam Haftar, the son of Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east of Libya, during his secret visit to the United Arab Emirates. According to the "Haaretz" newspaper, the plane of Saddam Haftar, the deputy commander of the Libyan National Army, landed in the UAE on Monday, 20 minutes after Netanyahu's. Mohamed Buisier, one of Khalifa Haftar's former political advisors, claimed in his post on X that the timing was not a coincidence and that Saddam met with Netanyahu to provide political support for his presidential goals.

Preparation for the 'unknown' from the army