MK Mansour Abbas, head of the Ra’am (United Arab List) party, called on Israel to recognize an “independent Palestinian state” during a speech to party delegates at their convention in Tayibe on Saturday, declaring that it was already “a reality, which most of the world recognizes, with the exception of the United States and Israel.”
“We want them to recognize it, and we’ll work to achieve peace, rapprochement and an end to the occupation and conflict,” Abbas declared, calling Arab-Israelis “a bridge for achieving peace.”
Abbas insisted that the traditionalist Arab faction has “put Israeli democracy to a test” by turning an Arab party’s participation in a governing coalition into a “real political option on the table.” He spoke before an internal vote by by roughly 1,050 delegates to select the party’s candidate slate for the October 27 election.
Addressing party members, Abbas declared that Ra’am intends to be part of the so-called change bloc of opposition parties, which is running to oust the current coalition.
But Abbas’s comments quickly sparked harsh backlash from both sides of the political aisle, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that as long as he remains in office, “a Palestinian state controlled by Iran will not be established.”
