Israel’s Central Elections Committee voted 31-4 on September 23 to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh from the October 27 Knesset election, accepting an Otzma Yehudit petition that cited his October 8, 2023 article describing the prior day’s attacks as a significant military and political event. The decision drew unusually broad backing, including from opposition parties and committee chair Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, who departed from custom to vote in favor, alongside an Attorney General opinion finding grounds under Basic Law: The Knesset provisions on support for armed struggle or rejection of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The ruling is not final and requires Supreme Court review in hearings scheduled for the following week. Trader consensus at 55% for effective disqualification reflects the committee outcome and cross-party support while accounting for the court’s historical pattern of narrow application of disqualification standards.