Mansour Abbas, Arab unity, and the politics of coalition leverage

The article argues that Mansour Abbas, head of Ra'am, is deliberately resisting a full merger of Arab parties ahead of the next election despite months of pressure from Arab citizens for a single joint slate. It says Abbas prefers to run separately, because in a united list he would lose his dominant status and could end up in second or third place instead of leading a small bloc of 4 to 5 seats of his own.

The piece portrays Abbas as a pragmatist who markets himself to Jewish voters as the “responsible” Arab politician willing to sit in Jewish-led governments, while actually pursuing personal power and resources. It says Ra'am, as the political arm of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, reflects the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy of gradual political penetration, or “tamkhin,” through elections, parliamentary participation, coalition deals, and influence over state institutions.

To illustrate that framework, the article cites Egypt after the 2011 fall of Hosni Mubarak, when the Muslim Brotherhood won parliamentary and presidential power under Mohamed Morsi before the military, led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, intervened and halted the process. It then says Abbas has similarly tried to deepen Ra'am's presence in Israeli politics since the 1990s, peaking in 2021 when the party joined the coalition, and more recently declaring it had cut religious ties and become “completely civil” after reported pressure linked to Donald Trump’s sanctions on the Muslim Brotherhood.

The article warns that this is tactical, not ideological, and claims the real goal is access to the Knesset, appointments, coalition influence, and budgets, alongside broader shifts in education, recognition demands, and sensitive issues such as the Temple Mount. It concludes that if the right cannot reach at least 65 seats in the next election, the left will again need Abbas to form a government, and will likely embrace him as a legitimate partner despite the author’s objections.