Jerusalem, 8 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli authorities released an Arab journalist Sunday after detaining him for five days over an interview with a former lawmaker who fled Israel nearly two decades ago.
Abed Abu Shehadeh, an Israeli citizen and political activist, was freed after police and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet)dropped their request to extend his detention. He must surrender his passport temporarily and remain available for further questioning.
The case centers on an interview Abu Shehadeh conducted in Qatar with Azmi Bishara, a former member of Israel’s parliament who fled Israel in 2007. Bishara, founder of the Arab nationalist Balad party, was being investigated for treason and assisting Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon war.
Abu Shehadeh was arrested at his home last Wednesday, shortly after returning from Qatar, where he had covered Israel’s Oct. 27 election.
The legal rights group Adalah, which represents him, said investigators focused exclusively on his Bishara interview.
Abu Shehadeh heads the podcast division of the Arab48 news website and previously served on the Tel Aviv-Jaffa city council.
He is also a cousin of Sami Abu Shehadeh, a former Balad lawmaker who withdrew his candidacy when a Supreme Court panel signaled it would disqualify him from running. That case centered on an Arabic-language article Abu Shehadeh published on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel. In the article, he described the attack as “an important historic event militarily, politically and strategically” and wrote that others could learn from Hamas’s ability to surprise Israel.
