Ra’am chairman MK Mansour Abbas spoke to Channel 12 News on Saturday night, and referenced the talks he recently held with Justice Minister Yariv Levin, claiming that they had nothing to do with the judicial reform.
"There are all kinds of interests of both sides in the political system, we are part of the negotiations at the President's Residence and we will not allow them to use Ra’am to thwart this move," Abbas stated.
"We previously had conversations related to the legal revolution. We always talk here and there, but what I mainly brought up to Levin is that there is no answer to the 'doubling' of the number of people who have been murdered in the Arab sector, and there is no answer because there is no functioning minister in the Ministry of National Security. There is a sense of lawlessness in our sector," he continued.
"I think an independent and powerful judicial system should be maintained, because my argument is that the Knesset and the government are one authority and we need to balance them," said Abbas, who added that "the democratic model is important to me, so there will be no situation where we give up in this area - not even for the sake of jobs [in the government]."
He stated that "for now, there is no doubt that the judicial system is the strongest protector of me as part of a minority. I call on the Arab citizens to participate in the protest as part of them being [Israeli] citizens - but if our presence thwarts the protest, I don't want that to happen. There are many people who use it for other purposes."
Abbas also commented on the rising violence in Arab society, which has so far claimed 71 lives since the beginning of the year. "We as the Arab society have failed a moral failure, but that does not mean that the state does not bear responsibility. We need to bring someone professional into the Ministry of National Security, and this is what I brought up in the meeting with Levin. Netanyahu is the one who bears responsibility for the appointment of Ben Gvir."