Two Arab-Israeli political parties banned from upcoming elections
Israel’s Central Elections Committee yesterday banned two Arab-Israeli political parties, United Arab List-Ta’al and Balad, from running in upcoming parliamentary elections. The CEC accused the two parties of supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The motion to ban the Arab parties was filed by two ultra-right parties but was widely supported by other factions in the CEC. It is unlikely that Israel’s Supreme Court will uphold the ban. About one fifth of Israelis are non-Jewish Arabs. They enjoy citizenship rights but suffer discrimination.