TEL AVIV (VINnews) — Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab Ra’am party, said Tuesday that Israel was born a Jewish state and will remain that way.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Abbas, who has been accused by some Arabs of selling out the Palestinians, made the surprising comments at a conference in Tel Aviv.
“Israel was born as a Jewish state. And that was the decision of the Jewish people, to establish a Jewish state. The question is not ‘what is the identity of the state?’ That’s how the state was born, and so it will remain,” said Abbas.
“This is the reality. The question is not about the state’s identity — but what the status of Arab citizens will be in it,” added Abbas.
Ra’am is the first major Arab party in history to be part of a governing Knesset coalition.
Other Arab Knesset Ministers sharply condemned Abbas’ remarks, suggesting they diminish the rights of the Palestinians living in Israel.
Sami Abou Shehadeh of the Joint List party, said “The question of the status of the Palestinian minority in Israel is fundamentally tied to the definition of the state as a Jewish state.”
Joint List leader Ayman Odeh blasted the comments, saying “We are not subjects, we are the children of this homeland, citizens by right, and we will continue to work for a state of equality and democracy.”
Abbas made similar comments several weeks ago when speaking with an Arab news outlet.
In November he said, “Israel is a Jewish state. That is its identity, its essence. From their perspective, if its Jewish nature is taken away, the state will have vanished as well. Whether you accept it or not — that is a personal matter. The essential question for us as Arabs is what our status is in this country. Period. Next page.”
Abbas’ participation in Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s fragile coalition is crucial to the formation of a government, and was instrumental in taking down Binyamin Netanyahu after his record-breaking tenure as Prime Minister.
I wouldn’t believe a word he says. He knows that saying such a thing is tantamount to a death sentence. There’s a political motive here.
Interesting. He should get a Ministerial post instead of Agudah who still dont except the State.
I hear Satmar just rescinded his invitation!
When should I pencil in Abbas’s funeral?
its called Taqiiyah
I wouldn’t sell this man life insurance.
can you imagine the lone representative who is Jewish in the Iranian parliament saying he is a Zionist? exactly.
He didnt say he was a zionist, he was calling out to his people to overturn Israel as it was created to be a Jewish state. He is, was and always will be an enemy to Israel,