❗️Israel's high court overrules election ban on Arab lists ahead of October vote

The Israeli Supreme Court has overturned the Central Elections Committee’s bid to ban the Arab-majority Ra’am and Joint List factions from the upcoming 27 October Knesset vote, Israeli media outlets report.

The nine-judge bench also greenlit the candidacy of 'leftist' lawmaker Ofer Cassif by a 7–2 majority. Meanwhile, Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh was forced to withdraw his run after the panel leaned on him to step aside—capping off a sweeping judicial review of the committee's sweeping disqualification blitz against Palestinian-led political voices.

The rulings followed an emergency wave of appeals heard by the high court. Ra'am heads into the polls under Mansour Abbas, while the Joint List remains an uneasy coalition of Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad.