Israel’s Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Sunday that it intends to file requests to prevent the Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra’am) from participating in the next Knesset election, scheduled for October.
“Likud will submit requests to prevent the Joint List and Ra’am from taking part in the election,” the party said in a statement.
The party claimed that “there is no place in the Knesset for those who insult Israeli army soldiers and fail to designate Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.”
Likud further described the two Arab lists as “supporters of terrorism” as part of its attack on Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party.
The party claimed the two lists were Eisenkot’s “natural partners” and alleged that he sought to form a government with them alongside opposition leaders Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman.
“This must not be permitted,” Likud declared.
Eisenkot, a former chief of staff, has emerged as one of Netanyahu’s primary electoral rivals.
The Joint List was established in 2015 as an alliance of four major Arab parties: Hadash, Balad, Ta’al, and Ra’am. It has since undergone several splits and changes, with Hadash, Balad, and Ta’al currently forming the alliance.
Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas, broke away from the Joint List and now contests Knesset elections independently. The party has roots in the southern branch of the Islamic Movement and became the first Arab list to join an Israeli governing coalition in 2021.
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