Hadash Director General Amjad Shbita has presented his version of the events that led to Ra'am declining to join a four-party Arab slate ahead of the Knesset election.
In an interview with the Arab-Israeli television channel Hala TV, Shbita said the Arab public in Israel wants unity among the parties, regardless of the structure of the electoral list.
According to Shbita, Mansour Abbas, chairman of Ra'am, was the only leader who insisted on forming a technical Arab list. He claimed that Abbas was offered the opportunity to formulate a joint political platform for the shared slate, but rejected the proposal, insisting that after the election Ra'am would continue to operate independently on political matters.
Shbita added that the other Arab parties agreed to establish a technical joint list in line with Ra'am's demand, but also sought to adopt a shared political platform, while allowing each party to act independently after the election.
According to Shbita, Abbas responded that running on a joint list and conducting joint coalition negotiations could undermine his legitimacy in the eyes of the political camp led by Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman.