Mansour Abbas in an ambitious speech: the goal - eight seats

Mansour Abbas set a goal of eight seats for Ra'am about two hours before the polls closed, and called on Arab voters to go out and vote. According to him, the eighth seat could bring down the right-wing government and establish a change government.

About two hours before the polls closed in the 2026 elections, Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas delivered an ambitious speech and set a goal of eight seats for the United Arab List. According to him, the eighth seat could bring about the fall of the right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and the establishment of a change government in which Ra'am would be an influential partner. Abbas called on Arab voters who had not yet voted to go to the polls, saying that "the eighth seat is the solution, it is the key to achieving the political goal that every Arab person aspires to - the fall of the right-wing government and the establishment of a change government." He claimed that in the previous elections, the right wing won by a margin of 26,000 votes, while about half a million eligible Arab voters stayed home, and that if 50,000 of them had voted, Netanyahu would not have served alongside Smotrich and Ben Gvir. Abbas also addressed claims of persecution of list activists on election day, saying that election day had become a day of persecution and arrests. He expressed hope that by 10:00 PM the goal would be achieved and the eighth seat would be counted.