Journalist and Balad activist Abed Abu Shehadeh detained pending court decision

A Tel Aviv magistrate’s court on Wednesday ordered that journalist and senior Balad activist Abed Abu Shehadeh remain in custody until Sunday. The court said there was reasonable suspicion that he had contacted a foreign agent, referring to his pre-election interview with former Balad leader Azmi Bishara conducted in Qatar.

The Shin Bet and Israel Police arrested Abu Shehadeh at his Jaffa residence and asked for an eight-day extension of his detention. Lawyers for the activist argued that the interview was publicly available journalistic work and that Bishara should not be classified as a foreign agent.

Adalah, a legal-rights organization involved in his defense, announced it would appeal the decision, describing the investigation as an attempt to silence Palestinian journalists and political activists.

"Abed Abu Shehadeh’s interrogation and detention concern a single interview. This is not a criminal investigation; it is a campaign to silence Palestinian journalists and political activists," said Adalah attorney Hadeel Abu Salih.

Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh called the arrest a "grave crime" and suggested it was part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to influence the election. The detention occurs amid broader disputes over Arab voters’ influence in the upcoming election and separate investigations into alleged foreign interference and vote-buying.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has emphasized that any questioning must be supported by evidence. The Central Elections Committee reported no evidence of compromised election integrity in its recent review of the results.