(A7) The chairman of the Ra’am party, MK Mansour Abbas, told the Yediot Aharonot newspaper that he has not spoken to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu since the formation of the Bennett-Lapid government in which Abbas is a partner.
Abbas decided not to choose a political side in advance, but to go with whoever gave him the most. When he was in Kfar Maccabiah with Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Bennett told him that he was surprised that he did not drop a “bombshell” at the last minute.
“The highlight was when I came to Kfar Maccabiah and Lapid, Bennett and I sat down and talked about a few things and then we came to an agreement and decided it was time we sign the agreement. Then, when we sat down after the signing, the current Prime Minister said to me, ‘Honestly, I kept thinking what would be the last ‘boom’ that you would come with it.”
Bennett, Abbas said, “waited for this bombshell, because everyone pulls the same trick: They wait for the last minute, and then try to get more. So he said to me, ‘You surprised me that there was no such bombshell.’ And as this is going on, Netanyahu is still calling, and calling, and calling me all the time.”
When asked when was the last conversation he had with Netanyahu before he signed with Lapid and Bennett, Abbas replied, “Half an hour before I entered Kfar Maccabiah.”
In that conversation, Abbas continued, Netanyahu tried to persuade him to allow the formation of a government made up of the right-wing parties and Ra’am, including a promise to repeal the Kaminitz Law, which increases enforcement against unauthorized building. “He even said that: ‘Only I can repeal the Kaminitz Law.'”
Since the agreements were signed with Bennett and Lapid, Abbas and Netanyahu have not spoken anymore. “Not a word, no. I also did not say I was in [the Prime Minister’s Residence on] Balfour until he attacked me and tried to delegitimize me.”
The chairman of Ra’am also said that he met Sara Netanyahu during his second visit to the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem, before the formation of the current government. “On my second visit, she came and we had a good conversation … it was pleasant and nice.”
Abbas was asked about the meeting of MK Mazen Ghanaim from his party with Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, who was released from prison after being convicted of incitement and expressing support for terrorism.
“Arab society is one neighborhood. We cannot sever contact with each other, even if there are disagreements along the way. And that is very important. When someone visits Sheikh Raed Salah, it does not mean he agrees with him,” Abbas claimed. “It is perceived differently in Jewish society, because no one explains to them that the meaning of the visit is friendship.”
When asked why he did not go to visit Salah himself, Abbas replied, “Who said I would not go? I will choose the right time and place.”
