Ahead of the hearing to be held on Thursday in the High Court: Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Isman informed the Supreme Court today (Tuesday) that they support disqualifying Balad Chairman MK Sami Abu Shehadeh from running for the next Knesset.
""The disqualification of Knesset candidate Sami Abu Shehadeh should be confirmed due to his support for armed struggle in Israel, including during the October 7 attack, under extreme circumstances and at a time that could not be more dire," they wrote.
They added: "The article published by Abu Shehadeh on 8.10.23 - a day after the start of the murderous terrorist attack, and while it was still underway, expresses a perception of support for the armed struggle of the Hamas terrorist organization against the State of Israel. Shehadeh's behavior stands at the core of the grounds for disqualification stipulated in the Basic Law: The Knesset.".
They claim, "The explanations that Shehadeh gave retrospectively for the harsh statements included in the article he published on October 8, for the additional evidence that was presented, and for his overall conduct are vague, partial, and do not address the central allegations that arose in his case.".
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded: "Even the Attorney General and the State Attorney cannot deny the evidence we presented against Sami Abu Shehadeh, and recommended that the High Court accept Otzma Yehudit's request and disqualify him from running for the Knesset.".
""It's just a shame that instead of the Attorney General and her people collecting the materials against those who support our enemies, the one who did the work was Attorney David Bavli, 11th on the Otzma Yehudit list, who collected and summarized the materials that led to this position.".
""Otzma Yehudit will continue to act decisively against supporters of terrorism and those who act against the State of Israel."
Exceptional request to the Supreme Court
Following the Central Elections Committee's decision to accept the request of the Minister of National Security and the Otzma Yehudit list to disqualify Balad Chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from running for the Knesset - today, Attorney Zeev Wolf and Attorney David Bavli filed an exceptional request with the Supreme Court to add evidence to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, in preparation for the hearing on Thursday.
The application noted that after the Central Elections Committee's decision to disqualify Abu Shehadeh, and in light of Abu Shehadeh's flimsy claims and denials, the applicants sought and found additional evidence in his case that proves beyond a doubt that he lied to the Elections Committee and continued to support Hamas throughout the war.
Attached to the request was a video of Abu Shehadeh 3 days after the massacre that appeared on his social media accounts, in which Abu Shehadeh speaks of the massacre as "the Palestinian issue that went through a significant political-strategic event, a very large political event," attacking Israel and not condemning the massacre and the hundreds of soldiers who were slaughtered, but praising only the "martyrs" and the residents of the Negev.
Another example attached to the request is a transcript of a podcast hosted by Abu Shehadeh in which he calls Hamas' war on Israel "a firm stand" and "something legendary.".
In addition, a video of a speech from the opening rally of the Balad conference, published on Abu Shehadeh's social media, was attached, in which he mocks Israel and says: "They ate our heads on October 7th, October 7th, and October 7th, and October 7th," and justifies the massacre and says that "history did not begin on October 7th.".
According to him, "October 7th is an event that happened as a result of something," which is the result of the "siege," the "occupation," and the "daily crimes" against "our people in Gaza.".
