Ra’am Party chairman MK Mansour Abbas told i24NEWS in an interview that violence should be discarded and condemned "in all its manifestations" for Jews and Arabs to have a common future as neighbors.
"We think that this demand is a compulsory for all of us, and we should push the violence in all of its manifestations aside, and we should engage in peace and in construction. We need to treat the wounds of both sides, to translate into the reality the goals of both sides, in order for us to reach a solution that would be acceptable for both sides," Abbas told the channel.
Abbas stressed that he regards himself and fellow Arab citizens of Israel as Israelis, and rejected attempts by Palestinian Arab leadership, including the Hamas terrorist group, to enlist Arab Israelis against Israel.
"Since 1978 the PLO decided to establish the Palestinian state. Did they treat us as we were a part of Palestinian people, inside this decision? No," he said. "And in the Oslo Accords - did they treat us as part of the Palestinian people? No. They treated us as if we were Arab citizens within the State of Israel. By the way, even today the Palestinian leadership, of course not all of it, is saying that Palestinians inside Israel are separate, and they have a different status."
Abbas was asked about his rise to political prominence in Israel, which some see as having been facilitated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Ra’am chairman has claimed that before the formation of the recent Bennett-Lapid government, the Likud had offered him a coalition agreement, but has not unveiled the proof he claims he has of that offer. The Likud has rejected Abbas’ claims.
Netanyahu has recently denounced the lawmaker as an "Islamist."
In the interview with i24NEWS, Abbas hinted at Netanyahu's alleged duplicity, saying that "his true face is already exposed, I left this subject behind my back. Indeed there were talks. Nothing came out. This subject is behind me now. I’m not competing with Benjamin Netanyahu in this field."
"My credibility within the Israeli community is well known," he added. "Every word I say comes out balanced and truthfully. And everyone can testify to this."