Ori Wertman urges the court to let the disqualifications stand
Ori WertmanPolitical scientist writing in Israel Hayom
Ori Wertman urged Supreme Court judges to leave the committee's decision in place, expressly including the disqualification of Abu Shehadeh. English translation: by not intervening in the decision of the Central Elections Committee.
“בכך שלא יתערבו בהחלטתה של ועדת הבחירות המרכזית.”
Analysis
Where this statement fits
The effort to disqualify Sami Abu Shehadeh from Israel's 2026 election
Israel's Central Elections Committee voted on September 23, 2026 to disqualify Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh from the October 27 Knesset election. The dispute centers on whether his writing about the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack meets the legal threshold for supporting armed struggle against Israel. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported disqualification. Abu Shehadeh and his lawyers at Adalah challenged the evidence and described the effort as an attack on Arab political representation. At an October 1 hearing, the Supreme Court indicated that a majority favored disqualification and recommended withdrawal, according to court reporting. Balad subsequently announced that its leadership had agreed to withdraw his candidacy while retaining him as party leader. We have not located a final judgment approving the disqualification or an order accepting a formal withdrawal.
Source and context
Analysis
About this source
Signed opinion reviewing past candidate-disqualification cases and urging the court to leave the 2026 committee decisions in place.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Wertman criticized earlier court decisions that allowed Arab candidates to run and argued that the October 7 attack made this election different.
After the quotation
His closing paragraph named Abu Shehadeh and Ofer Cassif among candidates who should be excluded.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to excluding Abu Shehadeh from the election, Wertman supports the ban and asks the court to uphold the committee's decision.
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- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseBalad objects to exclusion while announcing withdrawal
Balad
“استخدام الشطب أداةً لتضييق مساحة العمل السياسي العربي وملاحقة المواقف الوطنية الخارجة عن الإجماع الإسرائيلي.”Read statement
Odeh condemns pressure on Abu Shehadeh to withdraw
“פסילתו של חברי סמי אבו שחאדה היא הצעד הסופי בהפיכה המשטרית”Read statement
Cassif condemns the move to exclude Abu Shehadeh
“אני מאוד מאוכזב, וכעוס על ההחלטה לגבי חברי סאמי אבו שחאדה.”Read statement
Cite this record
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- The Dispute Index
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- Ori Wertman urges the court to let the disqualifications stand
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/4390-ori-wertman-urged-supreme-court-judges-to-leave
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Ori Wertman urges the court to let the disqualifications stand". First published: 2026-10-01. Last updated: 2026-10-01. https://disputeindex.com/events/4390-ori-wertman-urged-supreme-court-judges-to-leave