30 years since its founding: Ra'am holds primaries to select the list for the Knesset

The Ra'am party (United Arab List) is holding primaries today, Saturday, during its 28th general conference, marking 30 years since its founding.

Participating in the conference, which is taking place in the city of Tayibe, are 1,050 members from across the country. They will choose the list of candidates for the upcoming Knesset elections for the top five positions, while the executive committee of the United Arab List will select the next five positions (6-10).

Party chairman, Dr. Mansour Abbas, clarified that Ra'am will not join the Joint List announced this week by Hadash-Ta'al-Balad. Instead, he announced the "opening of a new chapter in Ra'am's relations with the three parties that make up the Joint List, calling for the signing of an agreement for cooperation, coordination, joint and complementary roles, a surplus vote agreement, and mutual respect."

"The United Arab List has put Israeli democracy to a real test, and the issue of an Arab list's participation in a coalition has become a political reality," he stated.

He also called for recognition of the Palestinian state:

"The State of Palestine exists and is recognized by most of the world, except for the United States and Israel. We want them to recognize it, and we are working to achieve peace, reconciliation, and an end to the occupation and the conflict."

Meanwhile, former Knesset member Yoav Segalovitz is not standing for election. He is expected to be placed in a realistic spot without running, if and when the intensive contacts between him and the party chairman come to fruition.

Ra'am stated at the opening of the event that the conference constitutes a "major organizational and political milestone," especially "in light of the difficult circumstances that our society and our people are going through, and the unprecedented policies of the Netanyahu-Ben Gvir-Smotrich government." The party emphasized its efforts to replace the current government with a new government of change in which the United Arab List is a partner, in order to serve the urgent needs of the Arab community.

Mazen Ganaim, mayor of Sakhnin and chairman of the Committee of Heads of Arab Local Authorities, encouraged the Arab public to go to the polls:

"Our goal is to get rid of the practices and policies of this government and to have influence. There is a huge difference between being in the coalition and being in the opposition, and no one can ignore the achievements that the United Arab List achieved for our Arab community during its term in the coalition."