The Yashar party, led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, announced its support for disqualifying Sami Abu Shahadeh's candidacy for the 26th Knesset, declaring that what he wrote on October 8 cannot be erased by a clarification post years later.
The party's statement emphasized that one day after the massacre, Abu Shahadeh described the Hamas attack as "a historically important event from a military, political and strategic perspective", words that cannot be undone by a belated clarification nearly three years later.
Although Yashar is not part of the voting body, the party announced it supports disqualifying Abu Shahadeh's candidacy. The party's position is that his statements following the October 7 massacre crossed the threshold set in Basic Law: The Knesset, which prohibits support for armed struggle by a terrorist organization against the State of Israel.
On October 8, 2023, the day after the massacre, Abu Shahadeh characterized the Hamas attack as "a historically important event from a military, political and strategic perspective." He added: "If small, besieged Gaza managed to do this, and at this level, others can do it more efficiently and simply." These words were written when hundreds of murdered Israelis and kidnapped victims taken to Gaza had already been reported.
Abu Shahadeh's belated clarification does not erase what he wrote in real time, the party stated. Now, as his candidacy faces scrutiny, he declares he did not support the massacre. But the test is not the wording he chose on the eve of the decision on his case, but rather the statements he published the day after the massacre and their meaning.
The law establishes a clear boundary: support for armed struggle by a terrorist organization against Israel is grounds for disqualifying a candidate. From the party's perspective, Abu Shahadeh crossed that line. This provision must have practical meaning.
Israeli Arab citizens have the right to full political representation, the statement noted, but support for armed struggle by a terrorist organization against the state cannot receive legitimacy on the path to the Knesset.
The party emphasized that this is a declaratory statement only, as Eisenkot has no representatives on the Central Elections Committee.
