The Ra'am Party on Saturday published a clarification of comments made by party chairman Mansour Abbas about the removal of the weapons from the hands of Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations.
The clarification stated that the “Palestinian state”, once established, will be the one to disarm the organizations. "When the Palestinian state is established, it will be the one in whose hands the weapons will be held, and not in the hands of the factions."
The clarification came after Abbas, in an interview with CNN on the weekend, said that "the Palestinian organizations need to unload their weapons. The military force that Hamas tried to use through these militant groups did not result in successes or achievements for the Palestinian people."
In addition, Abbas condemned the massacre carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7, saying that "an action against innocents, women, children, the elderly, is immoral and against Islam."
"Both sides need to understand that the use of force on both sides has not led to successes or an improvement in the situation. The only thing that is happening is that we are breeding more and more hatred on both sides," he said.
In addition, when Abbas was asked whether Israel went too far in its military response to Hamas, he replied that "when you look at the Israeli response, it is clear that it happened due to what happened on October 7. About 1,200 people were killed and the vast majority were civilians. We saw a very strong reaction due to the atrocities that occurred."
After Ra’am’s clarification of the remarks, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded, "Not everyone is surprised by Abbas' words. The people of Israel have woken up and know very well who stands by them and who supports and sides with their enemies."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded, "Mansour Abbas once again reveals his true face by taking back his statement that the weapons must be laid down and proves what we have always said, Abbas and the Muslim Brotherhood are clear supporters of terrorism, the concept has collapsed and the conclusion is clear, zero tolerance for supporters of terrorism in the Knesset of Israel. We need to get the Ra'am Party out of the Knesset and outlaw it."
Energy and Infrastructure Minister Israel Katz, a member of the Political-Security Cabinet, said, "Mansour Abbas thinks we will buy his disguises. The Muslim Brotherhood is a sister movement of Hamas in Gaza. Abbas thinks we are stupid and that he will buy us with empty talk. In the morning he talked about disarming the organizations and in the evening, he explained that he actually meant only after a Palestinian state is established. We don't buy the bluff."