JERUSALEM, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two Israeli Arab parties have been disqualified for the country's upcoming general election, local news service Ynet reported on Monday.

    The red light was given by the Central Elections Committee to Balad and United Arab List-Ta'al, which respectively possess three seats in the outgoing parliament and have presented their new lists of candidates for the Feb. 10 race, said the report.

    Some representatives of the Arab parties walked out of the meeting when a vote in favor of their disqualification appeared imminent, according to the report.

    The decision followed a heated debate in the parliament, or the Knesset, over three requests the committee has received to disqualify Balad, which claimed that the Arab party does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and supports the armed struggle against Israel, said the report.

    The ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip also became a hot topic at the meeting. Lawmaker Ahmad Tibi from the United Arab List-Ta'al party accused the current ruling Kadima party of staging the war "as an elections campaign strategy."

    Following the decision, Tibi told a press conference that "this is a racist country," echoing similar remarks by Balad Chairman Jamal Zahalka. He added that this decision "will only lead to the increased solidarity between the Arab public and its leadership."

    Zahalka said he is not surprised by the decision "because the vote was taken for political motives due to the war atmosphere," adding that "the committee members sought to increase their popularity at our expense on the backdrop of the elections."

    On the other side, some right-wing party lawmakers said they would take further steps to make the Balad party illegal, while calling it a "terrorist organization."

    Noting that the Supreme Court, which overturned several votes in the past to disqualify Balad from national elections on similar grounds, is the body to make a final decision, Tibi was quoted as saying that "We're used to these types of struggles and used to winning them."

    Balad has not decided whether it would appeal to the Supreme Court, while the report said that the party has threaten to boycott the election should the decision not be overturned.