Abou Shehadeh’s candidacy was challenged over an editorial he wrote in the newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The article did not condemn Hamas and argued that, given conditions in Gaza, it was surprising violence hadn’t erupted earlier.
In a subsequent article, Abou Shehadeh, a former member of Israel’s Knesset, called Hamas’ attack both unacceptable and a crime. He said he hadn’t known the scale of the violence when he wrote the first.
The court weighed whether his remarks violated an Israeli law barring candidates who reject Israel’s existence, incite racism or support armed struggle against Israel. His lawyers said that barring him would reinterpret the law and create a new threshold.
For Abou Shehadeh, who was running on the Arab parties’ Joint List, withdrawing avoids a court precedent that could be used to disqualify Palestinian candidates in future Israeli elections, his party said.
About 20% of Israel's citizens are of Palestinian descent.
