Poor Mansour Abbas: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Or: Keeping colleagues from shooting themselves in the foot MK Mansour Abbas, head of Ra’am, the first Arab party to ever enter an Israeli coalition government as an equal partner, set out to accomplish something that never before seemed possible. He stated that his goal was to improve the conditions under which the Israeli Arab […]

Usually silent Israeli Arab MKs in Arab parties not silent this time.

Israeli Knesset members from the Arab parties have not been known for denouncing terrorist attacks against their fellow citizens. Now, however, some Arab members of the Knesset are tweeting comments. What are they saying and what has changed? First let us put this in context: In the latest spate of terrorist attacks in Israeli cities […]

Mansour Abbas: A Moderate Islamist?

Does participaton in the Knesset lead to moderation of extremist views? That is the view of many academics who examine the relations between Islamist parties and the governments of the lands in which they live. Understanding this phenomenon is of growing interest to Israelis given the increased prominence of the Arab parties in Israeli political […]