New Israel bill seeks to bar Palestinian Knesset candidates, curb judicial oversight

A bill that is largely seen as discriminatory against Palestinian citizens of Israel has passed its first reading following a vote in the Israeli Knesset.

The bill, introduced by Likud Member of the Knesset (MK) Ofir Katz, would amend Section 7a of the 'Basic Law: The Knesset' and introduce a new clause titled "Expansion of Grounds for Preventing Election Participation."

The clause expands the ability of the Knesset to disqualify candidates, or parliamentary lists, from running for election, largely by widening what can be considered support for armed struggle against Israel.

According to the Knesset's website, the bill will enable the Knesset to bar those who show "support for armed struggle, even if the support is for the armed struggle of a lone terrorist".

Additionally, the bill also expands who the support can be against, expanding it to encompass Israeli citizens as well as the State of Israel.

"It is further proposed to stipulate explicitly in this section that displays of sympathy or support will be considered sufficient for the purpose of this section, even if they were not made in an ongoing fashion."

It also removes the power of Israel's supreme court to block any decisions, with bans only being able to be appealed after being implemented.

Passing its preliminary reading in the Knesset by 61 votes in favour to 35 against, Katz announced that "there is no other country in the world that would allow terrorist supports to sit as members of parliament."

The New Arab requested comment from Likud on the bill but received no response at the time of publication.

'New apartheid of the 21st century'

The bill has prompted fear among Palestinian citizens of Israel that it would effectively curtail their political representation in the Knesset.

Palestinian citizens of Israel often protest against Israel's war on Gaza and its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In recent years, however, Israel's far-right government has widened what it deems to be "terrorists".

In 2021, six prominent Palestinian NGOs were designated as "terrorist organisations", including the rights groups Addameer and al-Haq, a move widely condemned internationally.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) told The New Arab that the bill would undermine Israeli democracy, distort its electoral process, and constrain the Supreme Court from overturning politically motivated disqualifications.

"This bill is transparently designed to facilitate the disqualification of Arab political lists and their candidates while cementing right-wing control of the government," the ACRI said.

"This attempt to undermine fundamental democratic rights - the right to vote and be elected - while manipulating the electoral process represents a critical component of the judicial overhaul."

In early 2023, the newly elected government of Benjamin Netanyahu proposed sweeping judicial reforms that would limit the power of the Supreme Court. Israel's opposition labelled the reforms a "judicial coup". 

"Anyone committed to preserving democratic principles must stand in opposition to this proposal," ACRI added.

Sami Abou Shehadeh, former MK and head of the political party Balad, told The New Arab the bill represented a deterioration in the political discourse in Israel, saying "The whole situation is terrifying".

"The meaning of this law is that the Palestinian minority, which represents 20 percent of the population in Israel, will not be able to represent themselves politically in the Israeli Knesset.

 "This is the new apartheid of the 21st Century."

He also told The New Arab that Balad was preparing a proposal along with other Palestinian political parties in Israel to strategies on uniting against the bill and its far-right government backers.

"We are preparing a paper that we should hand to all the political forces within the Palestinian community, in order to unite our forces, to build a front, a political umbrella, that will bring us all together to struggle against fascism in Israel."

Yair Lapid, head of opposition party Yesh Atid said that the bill was designed to stop Israel's opposition from forming a government and remove 20 percent of Israel's population from the political playing field.

However, he added that Yesh Atid would present its own bill that would ban Knesset membership to individuals supporting "terrorism", although not political lists. 

Hadash MK Ofer Cassif said that the bill would "hinder Palestinian citizens and democratic Jewish participation in the elections," and that it was also aimed at preventing Hadash MK's reelection.

"In this Orwellian 1984 version of Israel war resisters are considered terror supporters and fascist thugs who run the Parliament are seen as democrats," he added.