High-profile case9/14/2026

Central Elections Committee to Discuss Requests to Disqualify Four Parties and Certain Candidates

Requests were submitted to the Central Elections Committee to prevent Ra’am, the Joint List, Otzma Yehudit and the Democrats, as well as several candidates, from running in the elections for the 26th Knesset. As of the publication date, the committee had not yet made a decision, and the claims raised by the applicants remained their stated positions.

Key facts

•Body: Central Elections Committee
•Committee chairman: Justice Noam Sohlberg
•Elections: 26th Knesset
•Source update date: 14.09.2026
•Statutory provision: Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset
•No case number was specified in the source

Which Requests Were Submitted

Likud and Otzma Yehudit requested the disqualification of Ra’am, and Otzma Yehudit also opposed the candidacy of party chairman Mansour Abbas. Knesset member Oded Forer, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu faction, requested the disqualification from the elections of Knesset member Ofer Cassif of the Joint List. The source also reports a request to disqualify the Joint List itself but provides no details about the applicant or the grounds for the request.

Requests Against Otzma Yehudit

The Zulat organization filed a request against the Otzma Yehudit slate, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Knesset members Limor Son Har-Melech and Tally Gotliv, and candidate Hananel Dorfman. Former ministers Moshe Ya’alon, Omer Bar-Lev and Yael German, Prof. Frances Raday and Yoram Ben-Zeev joined the request to disqualify the party. The applicants claim that certain representatives on the slate continue the ideological line of the Kach movement and systematically incite racism against the Arab population. The Democrats separately requested the disqualification of Otzma Yehudit and eight of its candidates on the grounds of harming democracy and incitement to racism.

Mutual Claims Between the Parties

The requests against Ra’am claim that the party denies Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state and supports armed struggle against it. Conversely, Otzma Yehudit and Itamar Ben-Gvir requested the disqualification from the elections of the Democrats slate headed by Yair Golan. This request was submitted under Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset; the applicants rely on incitement to racism and denial of Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.

How the Proceedings Will Be Conducted

The requests will be considered by the Central Elections Committee, which is composed of party representatives and chaired by Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg. It will decide whether to disqualify a particular candidate or an entire slate. According to the source, requests concerning candidates and slates registered, respectively, on the first registration day and the second registration day could be submitted until 22:00 on the following day. The committee’s decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court, which will issue a final ruling; the source also describes this procedure as a petition to the High Court of Justice—HCJ.

What this means for you

The mere submission of a request does not yet result in the disqualification of a party or candidate from the elections. The composition of the ballot papers may change only after the committee’s decision and possible review by the Supreme Court. For voters, the final list of participants will become clear once these proceedings are completed.

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