MK Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Arab faction Ra'am, hinted on Thursday the coalition may have reached the end of the road just over a year after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett assembled the unlikely patchwork of Right-Left parties and swore in a government.

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Abbas said that the recent infighting among coalition MKs over various policy issues, which led to some members siding with the opposition on certain matters or abstaining at key votes, "could mean that it is time for the coalition to call an early election that will bring us back to the same place."

Abbas said that the partnership between his Arab party and the Jewish parties "is a long process and if we succeed, we could come back from an election just as strong," but conceded that the internal squabbling could result in the government collapsing and ultimately be regarded as a failed experiment in Arab-Jewish political cooperation.

He said that his party has been willing to compromise its ideological stance in order to keep the coalition intact and that "from the get-go, I never tried to tackle all that needs to be tackled," essentially reiterating Bennett's stance that the wide ideological spectrum of parties was not going to effect major changes on hot-button issues.

Abbas said that he was focused on things that could be considered "life and death," such as the rising crime in Arab communities.

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Palestinians of various political factions slammed Islamist Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas for his recent favorable statements about Israel.

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"Israel was born a Jewish state, that was the decision of the people, and the question is not: What is the identity of the state? It was born this way, and it will remain this way," Abbas said in an interview with Channel 12 News on Tuesday.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who repeatedly refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, expressed anger over the statements.

"These irresponsible statements are consistent with the calls of extremists in Israel to displace the Palestinians and harm the status of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the history of the Palestinian people," he said in a statement, according to Palestinian news site WAFA. 

"Mansour Abbas, with such statements, represents only himself, and does not represent the Palestinian people at home and everywhere in the world," he said. 

The Palestinian leader's Fatah party released their own statement of condemnation as well.  

The Palestinian Liberation Organization Executive Committee – consisting of representatives of several Palestinian factions – expressed "strong condemnation and denunciation" of Abbas' statements.

The Palestinian People's Party condemned Abbas saying, the position "represents a cheap alignment with the Zionist narrative and its goals based on uprooting and displacing our people," WAFA reported. 

Hamas released a statement as well, saying it "​​is a clear violation of the Palestinian national consensus that rejects and denounces the Zionist claims."

Even fellow Arab MK Ahmad Tibi told Arabic-language Nas Radio that Abbas made "a major political mistake. When you say that Israel is a Jewish state, you are actually accepting the Zionist narrative and cancelling the Palestinian narrative."

This past summer, Abbas made history when he became the first Arab party leader to join a coalition government. The so-called "change" coalition government unseated Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 years as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.

From his position within the governing coalition, Abbas successfully pushed to increase funding for the Arab sector to tackle rampant crime and economic and social problems. The recently approved state budget includes $10 billion for the Arab sector to those ends.

i24NEWS contributed to this report. 

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Mansour Abbas' meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman did not touch on efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, the Ra'am party leader said, contradicting the Jordanian leader's claim in an interview with Israel Radio, Thursday.

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"I chose to behave in a stately manner and talk about the political process in Arab society. To say the meeting is part of a diplomatic process? Never happened," Abbas said.

The Tuesday meeting was held at Abbas' request and with the approval of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The Jordanian Royal Palace said in a statement that Abdullah and Mansour Abbas discussed "the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and ways to advance the peace process." The king restated his commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Ra'am leader also commented on reports of his party's alleged Hamas ties.

"There are no ties. We in the Islamic Movement have been operating for decades according to Israeli law, and we have supervision. If there was something unusual or illegal, everyone would know. The report I set a killer up with an attorney – fake news."

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The head of the Islamist Ra'am party in Israel's governing coalition met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday, the latest sign of warming ties between the two countries.

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The meeting was held at Abbas' request and with the approval of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The Jordanian Royal Palace said in a statement that Abdullah and Mansour Abbas discussed "the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and ways to advance the peace process." The king restated his commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abbas's office confirmed that he met with the Jordanian leader in Amman but provided no additional details.

According to senior Ra'am officials, the two discussed Israel-Jordan ties as well as regional issues.

Abbas and his four-seat party made history in June by becoming the first Arab party to join a ruling coalition, enabling Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to form a government and oust longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the inauguration of Israel's new government in June, Bennett has prioritized mending fences with neighboring Jordan. In September, President Isaac Herzog met Abdullah in the Jordanian capital less than two months after Bennett met Abdullah in secret.

The two countries signed a peace accord in 1994 and share close security ties, but recent years saw relations sour over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians and frictions at the contested Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

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The postponement of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's visit to Umm al-Fahm together with Ra'am chairman MK Mansour Abbas – which had been planned for Friday and which Abbas announced was due to "our request, out of respect for the memory of the shahids (martyrs) who fell in the clashes at al-Quds (Jerusalem) and al-Aqsa (the Temple Mount)" – sparked outrage among right-wing politicians who assailed the prime minister and Ra'am leader.

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Bennett and Abbas had been scheduled to visit a Clalit health fund vaccination clinic in the northern Arab Israeli town on Friday, amid the backdrop of relatively high morbidity rates in the Arab sector and the slow-rollout of the vaccination campaign in that community.

MK Itamar Ben-Gvir from the Religious Zionist Party addressed Abbas' message, saying: "Anyone who loves the country and reads the announcement issued by the terrorist supporter Mansour Abbas, cannot remain indifferent and claim that a man of peace is sitting in the government. It is also impossible to digest how the head of this government is a man who bows his head to terror. Bennett folded against terror and if he is so deferential to the honor of shahids, he should run to be the head of the Palestinian Authority."

The Likud party's official Twitter page posted a statement that said, "There is no low point that Bennett will not cross for the sake of his political survival, which depends on Mansour Abbas. To cancel a visit over the "memory of shahids" is a disgrace that will live in infamy."

MK Shlomo Karhi (Likud) also condemned the prime minister's decision on Twitter, saying: "Just a little bit more and Nakba Day will replace Independence Day. Bennett, these are your saints? Shame on you!"

The National Religious Party issued a separate statement, slamming Bennett's decision as "abasement."

"We warned against a complete ethical collapse in a government that includes the Islamic Movement, but Bennett's gesture toward the rioters of October 2000 goes beyond the pale of imagination. Disgraceful!" the statement said.

Also from the benches of the opposition, meanwhile, even MK Ahmad Tibi of the Joint Arab List took a jab at the prime minister and Abbas.

"Is organizing a trip to the United Nations easier than organizing a trip to Umm al-Fahm?" he asked on Twitter.

Contrary to the Ra'am party's stated reason for the cancellation of the visit, the Prime Minister's Office clarified that the decision stemmed from security considerations. "The postponement of the visit to the vaccination center in Umm al-Fahm was due to the likelihood of protests, and for security reasons. This is the only reason [for the postponement]," the PMO said.

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Islamist Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas came under criticism for Arabic-language remarks he made ahead of a vote on a new coalition, Sunday.

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Speaking outside the Knesset, Abbas said he would work "to reclaim the lands that were expropriated from our people. This is a national cause of the first degree."

Islamist Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas rejected criticism of the new government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister-designate and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid from right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties, as well as the Joint Arab List.

Speaking briefly in Hebrew, Abbas said it was time for the new Israeli government and the opposition to advance "dialogue between Jews and Arabs so that we understand each other and do not see each other as enemies."

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"We belong to different religions and communities, but there is something that connects all Israelis, it is our citizenship," he said, calling to strengthen dialogue between Jews, Arabs

Abbas, who made history as the leader of the first Arab party to serve in a coalition government, expressed hope "ties between the Jewish and Arab communities" would strengthen.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have mostly dismissed a change in the Israeli government, saying the Yamina party chief due to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely pursue the same right-wing agenda.

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Naftali Bennett, a former head of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization of Jewish localities in Judea and Samaria, is set to become Israel's next prime minister under a patchwork coalition deal struck on Wednesday.

On Thursday Bennett placed much of the blame for the conflict on the Palestinians.

"The truth must be told: The national struggle between Israel and the Palestinians is not over territory. The Palestinians do not recognize our very existence here, and it would appear that this will be the case for some time," he told Channel 12 News.

Speaking before Bennett's latest remarks Bassem Al-Salhi, a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the prime minister-designate was no less extreme than Netanyahu, adding: "He will make sure to express how extreme he is in the government."

Similar sentiments were voiced elsewhere.

"There is no difference between one Israeli leader and another," said Ahmed Rezik, 29, a government worker in Gaza. "They are good or bad for their nation. And when it comes to us, they are all bad, and they all refuse to give the Palestinians their rights and their land."

Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls Gaza, said it made no difference who governs Israel.

"Palestinians have seen dozens of Israeli governments throughout history, Right, Left, center, as they call it. But all of them have been hostile when it comes to the rights of our Palestinian people, and they all had hostile policies of expansionism," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said.

In what would be a first in Israel, a governing coalition is set to include an Islamist party elected by members of Israel's 21% Arab minority.

Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas said the coalition agreement would see more than 53 billion shekels ($16 billion) invested in improving infrastructure and combating violent crime in Arab towns.

"He is a traitor. What will he do when they ask him to vote on launching a new war on Gaza? Will he accept it, being a part of the killing of Palestinians?" asked 21-year-old Gazan Badri Karam of Abbas.

Bennett has been a strong advocate of annexing parts of Judea and Samaria. However, in his first public remarks on the issue in recent days, he appeared to propose a continuation of the status quo, with some easing of conditions for Palestinians.

"My thinking in this context is to shrink the conflict. We will not resolve it. But wherever we can [improve conditions] – more crossing points, more quality of life, more business, more industry – we will do so."

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A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip denounced Ra'am party chairman Mansour Abbas for signing onto a coalition agreement with Yamina party chief Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid.

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Mousa Abu Marzouq, deputy chief of Hamas' politburo, said: "The new coalition will be more radical than the previous right-wing coalition. Abbas Mansour represents no one but himself, after providing cover to the stew that poisoned the victory of our people 'inside' [Israel]" for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he said.

On Twitter, Abu Marzouq bragged that the last round of fighting between Israel and Hamas had led to the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's time in office.

"Our people's firm stance against recent aggression was the straw that ended Netanyahu's future and prison now awaits him," he tweeted.

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Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas on Thursday defended the right of Arab Israelis to protest Israel's "provocations" on the Temple Mount and in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in Jerusalem.

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"In light of the events of the past month, many thousands of Arabs protested, which is a legitimate form of dissent that seeks to express solidarity and objection to the provocational use of force inside the al-Aqsa mosque and against the family evictions in Sheikh Jarrah," said Abbas.

The Ra'am party leader was chairing a Special Knesset Committee on Arab Society Affairs meeting about the wave of arrests following the recent riots in mixed cities.

"For two weeks, hundreds of thousands of citizens went out to protest and marched in every Arab town, even in areas we weren't used to seeing demonstrations. One of the consequences is that there were events that deviated from the norm and the law. There's no question that we all agree that protest is legitimate in a democracy and it's the right of the citizens to express political positions," he continued. "On the other hand, we all called for the preservation of law and order and to demonstrate in a legal manner."

"I personally acted on this front," Abbas stressed. "The position is clear – we are for legitimate protest and reject any act that damages private property. To contend with the consequences of the events, we want to ask the law enforcement authorities about the situation as it appears today, what their policies are, how they plan on handling the fallout from the events, and how we can advance an approach of abiding the law on one hand, and allowing all citizens, Jews and Arabs, to express dissent on the other hand and to preserve the fabric of relations between Jews and Arabs. We want to solve problems and not use this committee as a stage for more incitement, more exclusion and more violent discourse."

Israel Police Commander Yigal Ezra also addressed the committee to discuss efforts to collect illegal firearms in the Arab sector.

"It's not like we go around with a cart collecting these guns; the work is extremely difficult. You also need to establish a foundation of evidence. What we want is for the criminal to be behind bars. Since the beginning of the year, 1,670 firearms have been confiscated. I know the numbers being mentioned are tens of thousands in the Arab sector; there are thousands of firearms, not tens of thousands, more in the range between 8,000-10,000 firearms," Ezra told the committee.

He also said that adding between 2,000 and 3,000 police officers would shift the balance in terms of fighting crime.

"The units have launched a significant wave of arrests. Thus far, 1,590 people have been arrested, of which 1,093 have been released.  There are 1,299 adults, 291 minors, and 165 indictments have been served."

According to Ezra, 183 Jews have been arrested thus far in the wake of the riots, and that 8% of the overall indictments issued to this point have been against Jewish suspects.

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In an effort to gain support for the anti-Netanyahu bloc, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz met Tuesday with Ra'am leader MK Mansour Abbas with a request to back their candidate to form a coalition. Discussions between the two are expected to span several days. 

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Sources close to Abbas told Israel Hayom that the Ra'am chief did not initiate the meeting, nor did he reveal his intentions or plans.  

Earlier on Tuesday, Gantz published a post on Facebook in which he addressed Abbas and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, explaining that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was using them. 

After the government is formed, "Abbas and Bennett will turn into Netanyahu's hostages," the post said. "There is only one way to prevent this: to form an honest government without Netanyahu and to appoint a Knesset speaker from the block for change."

Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman announced on the weekend his plans to back Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid as a candidate for forming a coalition.

Lapid convened with Abbas as well. He also met with Gantz for the first time since their falling out after the previous elections. 

The two leaders met to "discuss ways to form a government and replace Netanyahu," Yesh Atid and Blue and White said in a statement. It also noted that the two are expected to continue talks in the upcoming days.

Lapid is also scheduled to meet with representatives of the Joint Arab List this week. MK Aida Touma-Sliman said that the party would support a candidate who would "compromise and renounce Netanyahu's right-wing policies."

"It can't be that we are the only ones being asked to compromise on our principles," she said. 

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