An unusual confrontation broke out in the Knesset on Monday before a National Security Committee hearing on a petition to outlaw Ra'am. MK Gilad Kariv tried to block the session and told Adv. Yifat Siminovsky, the legal adviser to the Central Elections Committee, to leave, arguing they had no reason to be there.
The hearing, chaired by MK Tsvika Fogel, was convened after a Channel 14 investigation alleged serious ties between senior Ra'am figures and the southern branch of the Islamic Movement and terror-linked actors. It also focused on suspicions that funds may have been diverted to bodies connected to terrorist activity, a matter the report said has raised broad public concern.
According to the channel's report by Omri Chaim, Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas attended a meeting in Turkey that included senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad figures. The gathering reportedly centered on a united Arab campaign against the Trump administration's so-called "Deal of the Century," not on a religious peace initiative as had been claimed.
The report also cited footage from a two-day conference showing Abbas near Hamas political bureau member Husam Badran, who previously headed the group's military wing in Judea and Samaria. Other participants named were Hamas political bureau member Mousa Abu Marzouk and Mohammed al-Hindi, now deputy leader of Islamic Jihad. The bereaved families' forum, B'oharim BaChaim, said the materials were clear evidence of such links. The issue carries added political weight because Ra'am could again hold the balance of power after the next election.
