The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday extended the detention of journalist and senior Balad activist Abed Abu Shehadeh until Sunday, as his lawyers argued that he was being investigated solely over a published interview with former MK Azmi Bishara.
Adalah, the legal rights organization participating in his defense, said it would appeal the decision, calling the investigation an attempt to silence Palestinian journalists and political activists.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police arrested Abu Shehadeh at his Jaffa home overnight. Police requested an eight-day extension of his detention.
Reports published after the lifting of a publication ban identified the suspected offense as contact with a foreign agent, concerning his contacts with Bishara, the former Balad leader.
According to Adalah, Abu Shehadeh’s interrogation focused exclusively on a pre-election interview he conducted with Bishara in Qatar. The organization said police raised no other allegations during his questioning.
His lawyers argued that the interview, which addressed the Israeli election campaign and Palestinians, was publicly accessible and constituted legitimate journalistic work. They also disputed that Bishara was a “foreign agent” and argued that interviewing him provided no basis for criminal suspicion.
Judge Shelley Kutin, after reviewing confidential material, found reasonable suspicion and grounds for continued detention, including a risk of obstructing investigative steps.
Adalah attorney Hadeel Abu Salih rejected the basis for the detention.
“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,” she said.
“The police are sending a message to the entire Palestinian public in Israel: even a public conversation with a political figure can land you in a detention cell. Abu Shehadeh must be released immediately.”
Adalah identified Abu Shehadeh as a journalist and podcaster with Arab48 and a frequent contributor to +972 Magazine. He was represented by Abu Salih, Afnan Khalifa of the Human Rights Defenders Fund, and Fuad Sultany.
Sami Abu Shehadeh, chairman of Balad, one of the parties comprising the Joint List, condemned the arrest as a “grave crime,” alleging it to be part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to hijack the elections.
Arrest comes amid escalating dispute over Arab votes
The arrest comes amid an escalating political dispute over Arab voters’ role in the election outcome. Likud has challenged the legitimacy of the results, while the Shin Bet has sought to question senior Arab political figures in an investigation into suspected foreign interference. Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has insisted that questioning must rest on supporting evidence.
No connection between Abu Shehadeh’s arrest and that investigation has been publicly established. No connection has been established to the separate police investigation into alleged vote-buying for Ra’am.
The Central Elections Committee on Wednesday approved results giving Netanyahu’s coalition parties 53 seats, the opposition bloc 48 and the Arab parties 19. It said its review found no evidence of compromised election integrity or changes to the results. That review did not resolve the separate criminal investigations.