Ra’am Leader Said they Won’t Topple Government but Push some Issues

On Friday in an interview, Mansour Abbas, the leader of Ra’am, stated that while the party did not intend to bring down the government, but they were working on resolving the tensions at Temple Mount in Jerusalem with Jordan. Abbas said in the interview that there could be developments that may push the party into making a decision they don’t want to make. However, he said that generally he believed the correct approach was to not dissolve the Knesset and bring down the government. Instead, he said that it was better to pressure the government on different issues with the tools at their disposal. 

He also noted that the opposition factions were also lacking the majority required for forming a new government without having elections. He stated that they would need 61 lawmakers from the total of 120 MKs in the Knesset in order to form an alternative government and they do not appear to have them. He added that they wanted to see make political achievements and strengthen the Arab society’s political position due to which they had patiently dealt with the scramble happening within the coalition. But, the Ra’am leader also said that they could be a part of a potential coalition in the future led by the opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The Ra’am chief said that his party would take a pragmatic approach, if required. According to Abbas, his party’s strength lies in the fact that they have kept various options open when it comes to negotiations. He was referring to the talks that took place after the elections in 2021. He stated that a party has to have some ability to maneuver as well as flexibility if it wishes to stick to its political strategy. He went on to say that restricting yourself to one position only makes you ineffective. Last month, Ra’am had suspended their membership in the coalition due to the clashes occurring at Temple Mount between the police and the Palestinians.

It is known as the Al-Aqsa compound to the Muslims. Reports indicated that Abbas had had a meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday for the first time after the party’s time out from the coalition. Abbas said that involving the Jordanians could help in resolving the tensions at the Jerusalem holy site because they are the ones who hold custodianship. Last month, Abbas had also traveled to Amman for meeting with King Abdullah II and the two had also talked about the tension in Jerusalem. 

Abbas said that working with understanding and perseverance would help them work things out. He went on to say that they had opted for peaceful dialogue and did not intend to declare a national or religious war. He said that there had to be a solution and there was a need to stop the violations that continue occurring at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Muslims also call it the Al-Aqsa Complex or Haram al-Sharif and it is Islam’s third holiest site, while considered the holiest site in Judaism and called Temple Mount.