Running for Education (hypothetical)
In his 28 June 2026 Ynet interview, named Education when asked about taking a portfolio. This was a hypothetical preference: he ruled out joining a government and made outside support conditional on policy negotiations.
Who they are
Sami Abu Shehadeh has led Balad since 2021 and sat in the Knesset for the party before that.
He was born to an Arab family in Lod in 1975 and went to the Italian Christian Terra Sancta school in Jaffa. He read history and political science at Tel Aviv University and stayed for a master’s in Middle Eastern history, working on Jaffa as a centre of culture under the British Mandate. He belongs to the annual assembly of Mada al-Carmel, an Arab centre for applied social research on policy towards Arab citizens of Israel.
He first stood for office in 2008 on the Yafa list for the Tel Aviv-Yafo city council, a joint slate of Balad and Hadash that won a single seat, and took the seat three years later under a rotation agreement with Hadash’s Omar Siksik. He signed a coalition agreement with mayor Ron Huldai in September 2012, and the list fell short at the next municipal election. He then entered the Knesset on the Joint List and was returned at the following election. In January 2021 he beat the sitting chairman Mtanes Shehadeh in a Balad leadership contest. Balad pulled out of the Joint List days before the 2022 filing deadline after a dispute over the slate, ran on its own, took 2.91 per cent of the vote and did not clear the electoral threshold, and Abu Shehadeh left the Knesset.
Positions and record
Equality: In June 2026, called for Israel to become a state of all its citizens and replace the Nation-State Law with a Basic Law on equality.
Government support: In June 2026, ruled out joining a government. Would discuss outside support with a prime ministerial candidate willing to end the occupation or legislate equality.
Joint List: In June 2026, backed a joint electoral bloc with Hadash, Ta’al and Ra’am, despite Balad’s reservations about a technical alliance.
Crime prevention: In June 2026, called tackling killings and violence in Arab society his community’s first political priority.
Where they stand
Holds the party line on every issue.