Mansour Abbas signals willingness to recognize Hamas as terrorist for coalition partnership

Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas has indicated readiness to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, conditional on genuine partnership from the Change Bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot. Abbas cited security threats to his family and accused opposition parties of incitement.

In his article, Dan Perry argues that Mansour Abbas has expressed willingness to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, on condition that the change bloc commits to a genuine partnership with Ra'am. According to him, this is a brave step of immense political and moral significance, and the outstretched hand must not be rejected. Perry analyzes the political implications: adding Ra'am to the Eisenkot bloc would bring it to 56 seats, and Ahmad Tibi clarifies that the Joint List would support the government from the outside. He warns Avigdor Lieberman not to turn opposition to an Arab partnership into an excuse to sacrifice the conscription law and core studies. The article concludes with a call for the leaders of the Jewish bloc to prove they are capable of a brave step and to restore sanity to Israel.