![Mansour Abbas (R), head of Israel's conservative Islamic Raam party, speaks to a crowd during a political gathering to congratulate him on the electoral victory in the northern Israeli village of Maghar on March 26, 2021 [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GettyImages-1231946424-scaled-e1620743218805.jpg)
Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday to bar the United Arab List party, or Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, from running in the Oct. 27 Knesset election, Anadolu reports. The committee approved Ra’am’s disqualification by 18 votes to five, accepting petitions that alleged “the party rejects Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, incites racism and expresses support for an armed struggle against the country or actions of a terror organization against Israel.” Earlier Wednesday, the committee also voted 19-5, with two abstentions, to disqualify Knesset member Ofer Cassif from running as part of the Joint List on grounds that he allegedly “denied Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.” The panel also voted to disqualify Balad party chairman […]
