Arab party leader forced to withdraw from Israeli elections

Palestinian participation in upcoming Knesset vote continues to shrink with withdrawal of Sami Abu Shehadeh.Published On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026Arab Israeli politician Sami Abu Shehadeh has withdrawn his candidacy for the upcoming Israeli elections after the Supreme Court advised him to drop out.The leader of the left-wing Palestinian Balad party announced on Friday he was dropping his bid for election to the Knesset on October 27. His withdrawal, which came after the court threatened to disqualify him, comes amid increased efforts by Israeli authorities to block Arab Israeli parties from taking part.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The October 7 warnings threatening Netanyahu’s Israeli election campaignlist 2 of 3Israel’s Netanyahu criticises opposition uniting against him for electionslist 3 of 3What’s driving Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank?end of listPolitical analysts view Arab Israeli parties as potential kingmakers in the election, with polls showing neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition nor the main opposition bloc on course for an outright majority.The withdrawal came after the Supreme Court indicated that a majority of its judg...