Israeli court forces Arab politician to withdraw from election

"In the Jewish state there are two laws, one for the Arabs and one for the Jews."

Arab Israeli politician Sami Abu Shehadeh has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming Israeli elections after the Israeli Supreme Court indicated that a majority of judges were prepared to disqualify him.

The Balad party leader said the decision was “not really done by me,” after Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit told him that the court was likely to uphold his disqualification if he did not withdraw.

Abu Shehadeh is the leader of Balad, an Arab political party in Israel, and a former member of the Knesset.

He stated that efforts to exclude Arab parties are aimed at limiting their political influence, and the move is a push to help keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in power.

His candidacy was challenged over an article he had written three years ago regarding the October 7 attack.

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