The Central Elections Committee for the 26th Knesset decided on Wednesday to accept Otzma Yehudit’s request to disqualify Balad chairman MK Sami Abu Shehadeh from running in the elections.
Thirty-one committee members voted in favor of the disqualification, while four voted against. In an unusual move, Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg also voted in favor of disqualifying Abu Shehadeh.
Before the vote, Sohlberg announced that he had decided to depart from the customary practice of committee chairmen to remain neutral and refrain from supporting disqualification requests.
"I will depart from the custom of chairmen to maintain neutrality. I did not find an answer that could satisfy the concerns raised, and therefore, although this is rare, I am voting in favor of disqualifying Sami Abu Shehadeh. If there is a case in which the application is clear, this is that case," he said.
Earlier, Sohlberg had said, "The greater the authority, the greater the caution required in exercising it. Disqualifying a candidate or list denies an entire segment of the public the possibility of giving them its vote. We must not take this lightly," he said.
Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification was the second decision handed down on Wednesday: Earlier, the committee voted to disqualify MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) from running in the elections.
In Cassif’s case, 19 committee members voted in favor of accepting the request, five voted against, and two abstained. In accordance with the law, the decision and its reasoning will be submitted to the Supreme Court for approval.
The Likud’s request against Cassif was based on Section 7A(a)(1) of the Basic Law: The Knesset, on the grounds of negating the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Elections Committee plenum accepted the request "due to support for an armed struggle by an enemy state or terrorist organization against the State of Israel."
Seven hearings on disqualification requests have been scheduled during the current election campaign: two concerning individual candidates and five concerning electoral lists.