Mansour Abbas thanks Ben-Gvir, Smotrich for Ra'am's election gains
"What has made me happy is instead of just despair, the Arab citizens exercised their civil rights and we deserve those rights," Abbas told i24NEWS
Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas, speaking to i24NEWS, thanked the government and in particular Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for Ra'am's success at the ballot box on Tuesday.
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"It's all thanks to Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and the entire government, who neglected Arab society," Abbas told i24NEWS in his first english interview after the election.
"The government totally ignored us as if we're not citizens of the state and part of it."
He continued, saying, "So what has made me happy is instead of just despair, the Arab citizens exercised their civil rights and we deserve those rights."
Abbas said he wanted to focus on achieving results for Arab voters and ensuring they have a proper place in the next government, so that there can be a stable government for the next four years.
Abbas said he'd spoken to people from both the opposition bloc and the government bloc, but he refused to provide details of the discussions.
"The right doesn’t boycott us when they have interests; they only do so when it serves their political advantage. But for the time being, they aren’t boycotting us," he said.
Abbas clarified that he had actually been approached both before and after the election by figures on the right who he is familair with.
"Forming any government will be hard work, but we have proven we are capable of that."
When asked whether he would declare Hamas a terrorist organization, something he has refused to clarify in the past, Abbas responded that this was a matter for government formation negotiations and he would not discuss it until a deal was on the table.