The leader of the Arab party Ra’am said on Tuesday that while voting in the elections, he does not “deny the ability” to enter a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mansour Abbas has recently gotten closer to Netanyahu, demanding that he be ready to work with the Prime Minister, prompting criticism from Joint List lawmakers and potentially Arab vote.
After casting his vote in his hometown of Maghar in northern Israel, Abbas said he was “optimistic” about passing the election threshold, despite opinion polls. so far provided no more than four possible seats in the Knesset.
In the September 2019 elections, the Coalition (Israeli Arab Party federation) won 15 seats in the Knesset, coming in third place behind party Likud Netanyahu and the Blue & White bloc representative, a historic high on due to the large Arab-Israeli involvement in the selection process.
For Israel’s fourth election, however, Ra’am has decided to run alone. “We are looking for meaningful representation for Israeli Arabs, representation that will influence decisions,” Mansour Abbas told The Times of Israel.
“Whoever runs out to us, we’ll work with them. I don’t control that ability.”
Netanyahu, however, has again pushed on the ability to form a government backed by Ra’am.
Several weeks ago, Netanyahu put forward his specific plan to prevent crime in the Arab region, reporting that several million shekels had been disbursed for the purpose. Despite Netanyahu’s promises and efforts to awaken the Arab population, the turnout among the region stood at just 9% by 12pm on Tuesday.