The committee, Sept. 25 -- Israel's Central Elections Committee voted 18 to 5, with one abstention, on Wednesday to bar both of the country's main Arab-led political parties from standing in the October 27 Knesset election - a ruling the nation's own attorney general said had no legal foundation and that the Supreme Court is widely expected to overturn. The political message has already been delivered.

Ofer Cassif, a Jewish member of Knesset affiliated with Hadash, and Sami Abu Shehadeh, Balad's leader. The petitions invoked Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, alleging connections between Ra'am and charitable organizations the applicants claimed transferred aid to Hamas-linked bodies. The attorney general found the evidence insufficien...