Mansour Abbas
Mansour AbbasAvshalom Sassoni/Flash90

Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas on Thursday ruled out the possibility of an imminent return to a partnership with the Hadash and Ta’al parties.

In an interview with the Arabic-language Nas Radio, Abbas said that "the elections and the very act of going to the elections was a big political mistake. This should have been prevented at all costs." He demanded that a thorough examination be held and conclusions drawn about the process that led to the loss in the elections.

Abbas stressed that "those who led with their wrong policies to the current political situation should pay a price for the mistakes they made and they should gather courage and openly admit they made the wrong moves."

Only after that, Abbas emphasized, will it be possible to discuss the question of whether to return to unity or partnership and on the basis of this.

He also said that he would not agree to a partnership with Hadash and Ta’al if its purpose was to cover up the mistakes of parties or Knesset members.

In these words, Abbas implicitly criticized MKs Ayman Odeh and Ahmed Tibi and accused them of being responsible for the toppling of the current government.

On the victory of the right in the elections, Abbas said, "We are in a state of determination and strength. Neither Benjamin Netanyahu nor [Bezalel] Smotrich can break us."