All nine High Court justices hearing the case against Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh unanimously urged him Thursday to withdraw his candidacy from the upcoming Knesset election, with Supreme Court President Isaac Amit telling him directly that a majority of the nine-justice panel supports upholding his disqualification. The Times of Israel reports.

“There is a majority for your disqualification,” Amit told Abu Shehadeh during the hearing in Yerushalayim. “We recommend that Abu Shehadeh withdraw from the race.” The unanimous recommendation gives the Balad chairman the opportunity to leave the race voluntarily rather than await a formal ruling on his candidacy.

At the center of the case is an article Abu Shehadeh published on October 8, 2023, just one day after Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and carried out the October 7 massacre. In the article, Abu Shehadeh described the Hamas assault as an “important historic event” militarily, politically and strategically.

The Central Elections Committee voted last week to disqualify Abu Shehadeh over the article. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has argued that the article constituted support for armed struggle against Israel, with the effort to disqualify Abu Shehadeh drawing broad support from both sides of Israel’s political divide.

Abu Shehadeh expressed regret over the article during Thursday’s High Court hearing and denied that he supports armed struggle. He has argued that his writings should not be interpreted as support for the October 7 atrocities.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose Otzma Yehudit party filed the petition seeking Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification and who personally argued the case before the court, blasted the proposal to allow Abu Shehadeh to withdraw voluntarily.

“He should not be given the opportunity to withdraw. There should be a ruling,” Ben Gvir told the court.

While all nine justices joined in recommending that Abu Shehadeh end his candidacy, Amit specified that a majority of the panel supports formally upholding the Central Elections Committee’s decision to bar him from the election.

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