"A critical mass has accumulated": Likud files a request to disqualify the Joint List

Likud has submitted a request to the Central Elections Committee to disqualify the entire Joint List and MK Ofer Cassif personally, claiming they deny Israel's Jewish and democratic character and support armed struggle against it. The request, spanning dozens of pages and accompanied by a separate evidence file, relies on new publications and statements from recent years. Regarding Cassif, it cites his support for South Africa's lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague in January 2024, where he signed a petition alleging "genocide." Also noted are his appeals to the British Parliament to expand sanctions, his support for ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials, calls for refusal of orders, accusations against IDF commanders of committing war crimes, comparisons between the Gaza war and the Holocaust, and his labeling of the Shin Bet as a "terror organization." Likud argues that since the previous disqualification proceeding, a "critical mass" of evidence has accumulated. Regarding the Joint List as a whole, the request focuses on the Balad party and its positions on a "state of all its citizens," abolition of the Law of Return, and changing state symbols. Likud claims that Hadash and Ta'al cannot disavow Balad's positions after choosing to run with it on a single list. The Elections Committee will be required to consider the claims and evidence.