Israeli electoral committee bans 2 Arab parties, candidate

JERUSALEM — A decision by Israel’s electoral committee to ban two Arab parties and a candidate from a third Arab-led slate from running in elections, while allowing a far-rightwing candidate despite recommendations from the attorney general to ban him, was sharply criticized Thursday by leaders of Israel’s Arab community.

The ruling was called unreasonable and racist, and it sparked fears among Israeli Arabs that the country’s 1.8 million Arab citizens could be further politically marginalized ahead of April 9 parliamentary elections.

The decision to ban the parties, which are running on a united ticket, and candidate, Ofer Cassif, followed petitions submitted by three right-wing factions, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.

The two parties and Cassif now plan to appeal to the Supreme Court next week, and a panel of nine judges will make a final ruling on whether they can run in elections for the parliament, called the Knesset.

In a hearing Wednesday of the Central Elections Committee, it was argued that the two parties, Balad and the United Arab List, as well as Cassif — a politics professor and the only Jewish candidate for the Arabmajority Hadash party — had either expressed views supporting terror or rejected Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

Parties and individuals can be disqualified if they reject Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, incite racism, or express support for an enemy state or for terrorist organizations.

Since the country was founded in 1948, Arabs have been encouraged to run for political office.