Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Arab parties may stand in the parliamentary election at the end of October, overturning a decision by the Central Elections Committee that had sought to bar them.
The court ruled that the committee’s decision had not met the legal requirements for excluding the parties.
In late September, the committee voted 18 to 5 to exclude the conservative Islamist Raam party, led by Mansour Abbas, as well as the joint electoral list consisting of Hadash, Taal and Balad. Individual members of parliament were also barred.
The applications against the parties’ participation included allegations that they supported armed struggle against Israel. The parties condemned the decision as “political, racist and anti-democratic.” It was considered likely that the court would overturn the ruling.
The Central Elections Committee did not vote to bar the far-right Jewish party Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, from taking part in the election.
According to opinion polls, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp nor that of his opponents can count on an absolute majority in the pivotal election on October 27. The Raam party could play the role of kingmaker.