Mansour Abbas on political criticism: "Soon you will hear that Yoav Segalovitz is a traitor and a fifth column"

Former Deputy Minister Yoav Segalovitz (Yesh Atid) is conducting advanced negotiations to join the Ra'am list led by MK Mansour Abbas. It has come to the attention of "Maariv" that he has set three main conditions for the party chairman for his inclusion in the list. From Abbas's perspective, the matter is almost signed. He discussed this this morning (Sunday) with Gideon Oko on 103fm radio and expressed concern about the harsh criticism his potential partner will face.

Regarding Segalovitz, he said: "We are promoting this move. We have two more weeks to submit the lists, and we must finish this move. I hope we will succeed in doing it in the coming week."

He also said: "What kind of campaign is being managed against Yoav Segalovitz? False accusations and conspiracy: 'Yoav has stopped being a Zionist' — a man with a reputation and a police superintendent. Anyone who tries to lead a different path that is essentially democratic is put in such a position. Soon you will hear that Yoav Segalovitz is a traitor and a fifth column. This is the political culture that exists in Israel."

The Ra'am chairman explained that Segalovitz will not be a member of the Ra'am party, but a member of the faction: "He will remain the same Yoav Segalovitz you know. This is a connection between two citizens who want to work for the public good. Like two doctors, a Jew and an Arab, working together, like two workers or two engineers. We respect each other and recognize each other. This is a partnership without conditions that comes to give hope."

On a Palestinian state: "Believe that most of the public in Israel holds this position"

At the party conference, Abbas spoke in favor of the right to a Palestinian state, alongside the State of Israel, and mentioned that the whole world already recognizes such a state. He was asked if it was politically wise to make such a statement during an election campaign. Abbas did not see anything wrong with it: "I believe that most of the public in Israel holds this position. Even Netanyahu said he does not want a Palestinian state under the sponsorship of Iran, he did not say he does not want a Palestinian state."

He said that he is fulfilling the will of Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish, head of the southern wing of the Islamic Movement: "He gave me a commandment two weeks before he passed away in 2017: 'Work for peace between the two peoples, keep the principle of the two-state solution - this is the only option to achieve peace between the peoples.' We launched an initiative, we called it: 'Bridges of Reconciliation and Peace Initiative.' It contains recognition of the rights of both sides, acceptance of the other, and values of peace, reconciliation, tolerance, and security."

"There are those who want to take the narrow context and then start using it," he responded to those who attacked him.

He pointed to what he sees as racist conduct against him and against Arab society, including in the Knesset, and claimed that they say about him "Mansour is not worthy of being a partner anyway." He elaborated: "Since I entered the Knesset, my agenda has been related to the issues of Arab society. Does this give parties, both in the opposition and in the coalition, who negotiated with me to say: 'We want to establish a partnership with an Arab party?'. No, because 'whatever Mansour says, he will remain the same Arab'."

"There is a racist position here that disqualifies 20% of the country's citizens, even though they have proven their loyalty and their commitment to law and order," he added. However, Arab citizens in Israel feel, according to him, racism on a daily basis: "Even doctors in hospitals receive an overdose of incitement, even taxi drivers and bus drivers - they start inciting against them. There is an atmosphere in the country that completely ignores 20% of the country's citizens. I am speaking as an Israeli citizen - there is a mindset that it is possible to continue and ignore the government's mistakes."