MK Mansour Abbas, who heads the United Arab List (Ra'am) party, has warned the incoming government not to allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.
Speaking to Channel 12 News, Abbas said, "Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount will cause a war. Let's not be naive. When you speak about the most sensitive issue, which is the holy sites, people's brains stop working and it starts to be only religious feeling. We saw how many rounds of escalation were caused because of provocations on the Temple Mount."
Abbas also said that the Joint Arab List is responsible for the fact that the previous Knesset dissolved, blaming it for joining up with Likud's MK Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now set to become prime minister.
"The right needs to send flowers to [Joint Arab List MKs Ayman] Odeh and [Ahmad] Tibi and [Balad chief Sami Abou] Shahadeh," he added. "The Joint Arab List split into two parties, started to fight. The entire political discourse of the Joint Arab List MKs hurt Arab society, first and foremost. They are the ones who brought back the right and Netanyahu - there is no logic in what they are doing. But we cannot skip over the bloc's management. [Labor chief MK Merav] Michaeli also bears responsibility."
"We understood the problems of Arab society, and therefore we cooperated with Jewish society. We wanted to be partners in creating solutions for the Negev and the mixed cities. Governance is also enforcement and the provision of services.
"We led a worthy and courageous process, and we received a lot of criticism. It is our right as citizens of the State of Israel to receive services from the government. All residents have a right to personal security. We want a solution in the Negev, which includes regulation of the towns. We demand the eradication of crime and violence."