Current sectionIsrael NewsHaaretz TodayHaaretz Today Mansour Abbas spent years reassuring Jewish Israelis that Palestinian citizens were partners rather than threats, separating their civil needs from their national identity. Then, suddenly, all those years of reassurance counted for nothingShare to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeNagham Zbeedat07:06 PM • August 23 2026 IDTFor years, United Arab List Chairman Mansour Abbas has tried to prove that Palestinian citizens of Israel can become acceptable political partners if they make themselves sufficiently palatable to Jewish Israelis. He declared in 2021 that Israel "was born as a Jewish state" and would remain one. He separated Palestinian citizens' immediate needs from Palestinian national identity and recently endorsed civilian national service for young Arabs, partly to meet an "all-Israeli expectation."Loading...Click the alert icon to follow topics:Haaretz Today NewsletterCommentsLoading...In the NewsIn the News: Live UpdatesWest BankEisenkotTurkey-InterpolE1 TenderNetanyahuGazaCalifornia Special ElectionHaQuizHaaretz PodcastOne Palestinian Demand Exposed the Limits of an Arab's Place in Israeli PoliticsShin Bet Chief's Sister Joins Far-right anti-LGBTQ Party Ahead of ElectionOpposition MK Eisenkot Not Granted Security Detail Despite Claiming ThreatsIsraeli Man Moderately Wounded in West Bank Stabbing Attack, Medics SayIDF Was Warned 170 Soldiers' Details Were Online. It Did Nothing for a WeekRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIIDF Marks Detained Palestinians With Numbers as Northern West Bank Raids ExpandThe American Jewish Establishment Is Defending an Israel That No Longer ExistsAn Israeli Startup Is Reinventing Salmon Farming. It May Upend a Global IndustryDavid Remnick on Netanyahu, Mamdani and Israel's 'Failure to Face' GazaIsraeli Army Orders Criminal Probes Into Killing of Hind Rajab, Gaza MedicsAIPAC's Last-minute Spending Spree Fails to Block California Progressive