Sawsan Zaher is a Palestinian human rights lawyer based in Haifa who works on constitutional litigation and international law. She works with Tel Aviv University's Human Rights Clinic and previously served as Adalah's deputy general director and senior lawyer.
Case
Officials sought to bar the Balad leader over his October 2023 writing. His lawyers disputed the armed-struggle threshold, and Balad announced withdrawal after a Supreme Court warning.
Role at the time: Palestinian human rights lawyer
Statement summary
Sawsan Zaher argued that Abu Shehadeh's case lacked the sustained evidence required to disqualify a candidate for supporting armed struggle.
“This is not present in Sami’s case.”
Relative to excluding Abu Shehadeh, Zaher challenges the evidentiary basis for the ban and urges a legal challenge to it.
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
Statement dates: September 30, 2026
