Noam LeIsrael Seeks Disqualification of Ra'am and Mansour Abbas Over Denial of Israel's Jewish Character

The Noam LeIsrael party filed a petition on Wednesday with the Central Elections Committee to disqualify the Ra'am party and its leader, MK Mansour Abbas, from running in the 26th Knesset elections. The petition, submitted to committee chairman Judge Noam Solberg, alleges that Abbas's statements in Arabic deny Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state. Abbas recently acknowledged in Arabic that he does not reject the Nakba, the Palestinian narrative, or the uprooting of Palestinians, and described Israel's Jewish character as an imposed reality not chosen by them. He also claimed that Arab parties have had to accept this reality pragmatically to avoid disqualification from elections.

Noam LeIsrael argues that Abbas uses a dual-language approach: recognizing Israel as a Jewish state in Hebrew but denying it in Arabic. The petition raises serious concerns about Ra'am's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Noam LeIsrael describes as a movement that employs deception against perceived enemies. The petition cites Section 7a of the Basic Law: The Knesset, which prohibits candidates whose goals or statements deny Israel's Jewish and democratic character, incite racism, or support armed struggle against Israel.

Noam LeIsrael chairman MK Avi Maoz stated, "Mansour Abbas has revealed his true face today, confirming what we all knew. He does not recognize Israel as the Jewish state; this is a facade to avoid Ra'am's disqualification. Anyone who does not accept Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people cannot run for the Knesset. Abbas can try to run in any other Arab country." The petition follows Abbas's recent remarks at the MuniExpo conference in June 2026 and his parliamentary speech in May 2026, which intensified scrutiny of Ra'am's political stance and affiliations.