Gottlieb attacked Ra'am — then Judge Kabub reminded her of Netanyahu

In a High Court hearing on disqualifying Ra'am, MK Tali Gottlieb attacked the Arab party, but Judge Khaled Kabub reminded her that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had negotiated with it. The Attorney General's representative argued there was no basis for disqualification, while Otzma Yehudit claimed ties to Hamas.

In a High Court hearing on the disqualification of Ra'am, MK Tali Gottlieb attacked the Arab party and recalled the words of Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas, who said "the Jewishness of the state is an existing fact that was forced upon us." In response, Judge Khaled Kabub reminded her that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party she belonged to, had himself negotiated with Abbas ahead of forming a government. The Attorney General's representative, Anat Goldstein, said no justification for disqualification was found, noting that support for armed struggle had not been proven. Otzma Yehudit's representative, attorney Zeev Wolf, argued that Abbas refrained from defining Hamas as a terrorist organization. Ra'am's attorney, Suhad Bishara, dismissed the claims as a "conspiracy speech." In a separate hearing, Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit told Sami Abu Shahadeh that there was a majority to disqualify him and suggested he resign.