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Israel’s Central Elections Committee on Wednesday decided to disqualify Knesset member Ofer Cassif from running on the Joint List in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Cassif is known for opposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government policies toward Palestinians, particularly Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip since 2023.
Israeli Channel 13 reported that the committee was holding sessions Wednesday and Thursday to discuss requests to bar several political parties from the Knesset elections and had decided to disqualify Cassif from running.
The decision followed a request submitted by Netanyahu’s Likud party against Cassif, with the case set to be referred to the Supreme Court, Israel’s highest judicial body, for a ruling.
“The committee seeks not only to exclude Arab voices, but also to silence and exclude from the Knesset any voice that attempts to offer a real alternative to the rhetoric of wars and revenge,” Cassif was quoted as saying by Channel 13.
“Presenting my opposition to the government’s policies and the actions of its agents as support for the enemy, breach of loyalty and harm to the state is a blatant distortion of reality and a complete perversion of the spirit of democracy,” he said.
Cassif added that “opposition to crimes committed in the name of the state does not contradict its interests and does not strengthen its enemies.”
Israel’s elections are set to be held amid a fragmented political landscape.
Netanyahu has led the current government since December 2022.
He faces corruption charges, while the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for him over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
Some 48% of Israelis would prefer Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot as prime minister, compared with 40% for Netanyahu if Knesset elections were held now, according to a poll published Friday.
The survey, published by Israeli daily Maariv, showed Eisenkot ahead of Netanyahu in a direct prime minister preference matchup.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also led Netanyahu by 44% to 41%, while Netanyahu was ahead of Avigdor Lieberman by 42% to 38%, according to the poll.
The survey was conducted by Lazar Research and Panel4All on Sept. 16-17 among 4,089 respondents, with a maximum margin of error of 4 percentage points.
According to the results, Netanyahu’s governing coalition would secure 50 seats if Knesset elections were held now, compared with 54 seats for the opposition bloc.
Arab parties would win 12 seats, while the Reservists-Economic party would receive four seats, bringing the total to the Knesset’s 120 seats.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party remained the largest party in the poll with 23 seats, while Netanyahu’s Likud was projected to win 18.
Bennett’s Together party came third with 13 seats, unchanged from its previous polling result.
The Democrats, led by Yair Golan, received nine seats, the same number as Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu.
The Jewish Power party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was projected to win eight seats, while the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties received seven seats each.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party was projected to win six seats.
The Reservists-Economic party, led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha, and Ofer Winter’s Your People Israel party received four seats each.
Arab parties were projected to win 12 seats, including seven for the Joint Arab List and five for Mansour Abbas’ United Arab List.
The poll said 38 lists had registered to contest the upcoming Knesset elections, with 13 projected to cross the electoral threshold and enter parliament.
A government in Israel requires the support of at least 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset.
The elections are scheduled for Oct. 27.
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