Israel: Likud lawmaker meets Ra'am party chief Abbas

Ayoub Kara, a lawmaker with the Likud party, chaired by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Ra'am party chief Mansour Abbas on Saturday.

Kara, a member of the Israeli Druze community, thanked Abbas for the "warm meeting" and urged the "right-wing friends" to differentiate between Ra'am and the predominantly Arab Joint List.

The former, he stressed, does not deny Israel's right to exist and wants to be part of the decisions that have a national impact, which makes for a "fundamental difference."

Ra'am, a former member of the Joint List, broke ranks with the alliance to secure four Knesset (Israel Parliament) seats in the March 23 elections.

If coupled with the support from Naftali Bennett's Yamina party, Ra'am's support would be enough to propel Netanyahu to 61 mandates that he needs to form a coalition.

However, Netanyahu's right-wing allies reject the prospect, refusing to sit in a government that requires the party's support.

This leaves ample room for politicking and maneuvering in the wake of the vote that appeared to have largely failed to solve the deadlock in the Israeli politics, leaving neither Netanyahu nor his rivals with a clear path towards forming a government.