Israel’s Central Election Committee (CEC) voted on Wednesday to disqualify Arab Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi from participating in the coming elections. MK Zoabi is the number two candidate on Balad’s Knesset list. The decision is automatically transferred to the Supreme Court, which will hear the appeal next week. Earlier today, Balad announced that if the Supreme Court doesn’t allow Zoabi to run, the entire party will withdraw from the elections.

Hadash poster: Against racism!

The decision did not come as a surprise: The CEC is a political body whose members are determined in proportion to the representation of their parties in the Knesset. The current committee therefore has a clear right-wing majority. The decision to ban Zoabi from taking part in the elections was also supported by members of Kadima, widely considered a centrist party. The representatives in favor included members of Likud, Yisrael Beytenu, National Union, United Torah Judaism, Kadima and Jewish Home. Hadash, Labor, Meretz, Hatnua party and the Arab parties voted against, and the result was 19-9 in favor of the disqualification. “The petitions are based on isolated and inaccurate quotations published on various websites and therefore do not justify a serious debate,” said during the session the attorneys representing Adalah – the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.