Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas all but endorsed the partnering of his pro-Islamist party with one of Israel's political blocs on Thursday, in what could be a sea change in the relations between Arab and Jews in the country.
Arab parties have never officially joined a coalition in Israel, although they have occasionally provided indirect backing in confidence votes. But Abbas, who appears to hold the balance of power in the wake of the March 23 election, has been courted by both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his left-wing challengers as neither side has enough Knesset seats to secure a successful confidence vote and form a government.
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In his speech on Thursday Abbas addressed his Jewish compatriots and said that he, like them "is a citizen of the state of Israel ... and what unites us is bigger than what divides us."
"I pray for an uncompromising pursuit for hope and co-existence based on mutual respect and real equality, he said. "I am a proud Arab and a member of the Islamic Movement, a citizen of Israel and the head of the most important political movement in the Arab sector and I extend my hand, on behalf of my friends in the Arab community that elected us, to create an opportunity for coexistence in the land that is holy to the three faiths," he added, stressing that his organization "disavows any form of violence."
Ra'am and the Islamic Movement have been accused of being closely linked to the terrorist group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip, and these associations could complicate any effort to have it join a coalition in the Knesset and swear in a government, especially on the Right, with some parties saying that they would not allow this to happen.
