On October 2, 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned decisions by the country’s Central Election Committee (CEC) that would have barred the participation of two Arab political groups—the Joint List, an alliance of three parties, and Ra’am (the United Arab List)—from running in the October 27 national election. The ruling allowed both groups to compete for seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. It also allowed Ofer Cassif, a sitting member of parliament running with the Joint List, to remain a candidate. The CEC also barred another Joint List candidate, Sami Abu Shahadeh, but he dropped out of the race. The court therefore no longer needed to decide whether he could run....