i24NEWS Exclusive: Ra’am chief calls on Palestinian leaders to not interfere in affairs of Israeli-Arabs
'The mere thought of dragging Palestinian Arab citizens inside Israel into acts of violence of all kinds brings a new calamity'
Mansour Abbas, chief of Israel’s Ra’am party, spoke to i24NEWS in an exclusive interview about the influence that Gaza’s Hamas terror movement has had in trying to influence Israel’s Arab community.
“A great catastrophe, nothing less than that. The mere thought of dragging Palestinian Arab citizens inside Israel into acts of violence of all kinds brings a new calamity,” Abbas told i24NEWS' Arabic channel. “We must fortify the Arab society from going in this direction. This will serve extremism and extremists, and it strikes our position as Arab citizens here, holders of rights, and as children of the Palestinian people.”
The recent wave of Palestinian terror attacks in Israel as well as clashes in the West Bank have, in some ways, spilled over into parts of the Israeli-Arab sector.
“We ask all Palestinian leaders not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Palestinian Arab people, who are citizens of Israel,” Abbas continued.
“Our political position is that the solution must be achieving peace, ending the occupation, and establishing a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel. This demand requires all of us to neutralize violence in all forms and engage in the peace process.”