In what is seen in Israel as a ploy by Lapid, Gantz and the current ruling coalition, the Arab party Balad which until now was part of the Arab Joint List and broke with them to run alone, was banned by the election committee.
This move was spearheaded by the Lapid-Gantz Left coalition since they hope for two things:
1) That more Arabs will vote for the Joint List
2) That it will now seem as though the Arab Joint List will be "more moderate" and accept a place in a coalition of the current parties thus allowing them to their singular aim: To keep Netanyahu from returning to power.
Balad can and probably will, try to overturn the ban in the Supreme Court, and probably has a good chance to succeed.
Photo: Reuters