Israel's top court lets Ra'am, the Joint List and MK Ofer Cassif run for Knesset

Israel's Supreme Court on Friday reversed decisions by the Central Elections Committee that would have kept two Arab-majority parties, Ra'am and the Joint List, and one sitting lawmaker, Ofer Cassif, off the ballot in the 2026 election for the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Haaretz reported that the court overturned the committee's disqualification of the two parties and the lawmaker.

The panel was unanimous on the two parties. Ynet reported that the justices found the committee's rulings against Ra'am and the Joint List fell short of the standards set in earlier court decisions for barring a list. On Cassif the court split: The Times of Israel reported a seven to two majority in his favour, with Justices Stein and Mintz in the minority, according to Ynet and to posts by commentator Amit Segal.

What the court said about Cassif

According to The Times of Israel, the majority made clear that every justice on the panel rejected what it called his "outrageous comments and actions", yet concluded that this conduct did not satisfy the strict test that precedent requires before a candidate can be excluded. The two dissenting justices would have upheld his disqualification. Ynet cited their opinion as pointing to "support for armed struggle against the State of Israel."

Cassif is a Knesset member for Hadash, a left-wing party with a mixed Arab and Jewish membership. Segal described the majority outcome on Cassif as expected.

The parties involved

Ra'am is led by MK Mansour Abbas. The Times of Israel described it as historically Islamist and noted that it sat in the coalition known as the Bennett-Lapid government, and that its list includes Yoav Segalovitz, a Jewish former Knesset member. Ra'am's participation in that coalition made it the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli government.

The Joint List is an alliance of majority-Arab parties. The Times of Israel reported that the committee had sought to bar the entire list. A photograph accompanying its report showed Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, MK Ahmad Tibi and Cassif arriving at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem for the hearing on October 1, 2026, a day before the ruling.

How disqualification works in Israel

The Central Elections Committee is the body that administers Knesset elections. It is made up of representatives of the parties in the outgoing Knesset and is chaired by a Supreme Court justice, which means its votes on disqualification often divide along political lines. Israeli law allows a party or candidate to be barred on narrow grounds, including rejecting Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, inciting racism, or supporting armed struggle by an enemy state or a terrorist organisation against Israel.

A committee decision to disqualify can be challenged before the Supreme Court, which has repeatedly held that the right to stand for election may be restricted only on strong and clear evidence. The court has reversed many committee bans on Arab parties and candidates in past election cycles, while upholding some exclusions of candidates on the far right. The reports describe Friday's ruling as applying that body of precedent.

The court is referred to under two names in the coverage. Haaretz and Ynet call it the Supreme Court; The Times of Israel calls it the High Court of Justice, the title the Supreme Court uses when it hears petitions against state bodies. They refer to the same institution.

Reaction

Criticism appeared quickly. A post on the News.co.il channel contrasted the ruling with the earlier disqualification of Dr. Michael Ben Ari, a far-right figure, noting that he had served in the army, and complained that Cassif was now being cleared to run. The post does not make clear who wrote the remark.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports sets out the full reasoning of the majority or the dissent, or names all of the justices on the panel beyond Stein and Mintz. They do not detail the specific grounds the Central Elections Committee relied on, or the votes by which it reached its decisions. The Times of Israel's photo caption refers to the committee disqualifying candidates as well as parties, but the reports do not say whether any other candidates were affected or how the court treated them. They also do not give the date of the election itself, or describe the current make-up of the Joint List.