Ra’am party chairman Mansour Abbas, the left-wing bloc’s partner for forming the next government, delivered a stark reminder in recent days—in Arabic—of what his party actually believes. In his latest speech, “ending the occupation and canceling the state’s Jewish character are demands that could be excellent.”
“Ending the occupation, achieving peace, and canceling the state’s Jewish character—all of these are demands that could be excellent, but in Israeli politics today, they are not realistic,” Abbas said.
Abbas made the comments in a video he posted to his Facebook page in the past day, criticizing other Arab parties for their political moves and strategy—for their willingness to provide a safety net for a minority government while, in Abbas’s view, throwing around unrealistic slogans and empty promises. That context doesn’t change the substance of his words. His “assessment” remains the same: the view that “canceling the state’s Jewish character could be an excellent demand.”
One word in Abbas’s statement deserves special attention: “today.” In Abbas’s view, “today,” the demands to end the occupation, achieve peace, and cancel the state’s Jewish character—even if “excellent”—are not realistic.
What about tomorrow? Tomorrow, perhaps, the “excellent” demand will become realistic.
Classic Polite Jihad
This text is another clear and classic example of that Muslim Brotherhood and polite jihad approach that Abbas and his party lead—the political arm of the Islamic Movement in Israel. It’s the same pragmatic approach that says: today some things aren’t possible and aren’t realistic, but “tomorrow,” when we’re stronger, when we’re more established, who knows? Then it could be excellent.
“Canceling the state’s Jewish character—a demand that could be excellent,” says Abbas, the partner on whom the entire left-wing camp is building to form a government with him.