After the Balad Party, which is a member of the Joint List, announced on Wednesday that it would not be recommending any candidate for prime minister to President Reuven Rivlin, its chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh explained in an interview with Ynet that "Balad has not found any of the candidates to be close to the party's platform, someone who believes in equality and in a country for all of its citizens."
Abu Shehadeh, the only representative from Balad out of the six seats that the Joint List won, added that "We decide not to recommend. Not Lapid, nor anyone else."