Balad chairman Sami Abu Shahadeh addressed the panel of justices during a Supreme Court hearing on his disqualification from running in the elections, saying "the paragraph (in an article he wrote) was not written correctly. My intention was to warn that I am against violence by a state and a terrorist organization. I am saying that this paragraph was not written correctly, the idea was meant to correspond with the conclusion of the article. I wrote that this needs to be moved to political channels and that is how I told Israel not to be drawn into violence and revenge." He added: "Between that and turning me into a supporter of armed struggle, I have never in my life supported violence. I grew up in Lod and I know victims of October 7."