Mansour Abbas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by יהואש (talk | contribs) at 06:23, 14 November 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mansour Abbas
Faction represented in the Knesset
2019United Arab List
2019–2021Joint List
2021–United Arab List
Personal details
Born (1974-04-22) 22 April 1974 (age 50)
Maghar, Israel

Mansour Abbas (Arabic: منصور عباس, Hebrew: מַנְסוּר עַבַּאס; born 22 April 1974)[1] is an Israeli Arab politician. He is currently the leader of the United Arab List and represents the party in the Knesset. He was appointed as the chair of Special Committee on Arab Society Affairs in the Knesset on 27 April 2021.[2]

Early life and education

Abbas was born in the town of Maghar; his parents were farmers, and he had 10 siblings.[3] He began delivering sermons at the Peace Mosque in Maghar at the age of 17. He attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to study dentistry, where he was elected chair of the Arab Students Committee between 1997 and 1998. While at university he met Abdullah Nimar Darwish, the founder of the Islamic Movement. He also studied political science at the University of Haifa.

Career

Abbas is a qualified dentist.[4][5]

In 2007, Abbas became Secretary General of the United Arab List,[6] and in 2010 he was elected Deputy Chairman of the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement.

The United Arab List and Balad ran a joint list for the April 2019 Knesset elections, with Abbas as the top candidate.[7] He was subsequently elected to the Knesset as the alliance won four seats. Abbas aroused controversy when he spoke in support of conversion therapy to LGBTQ+ youth in an interview with Walla News. He was condemned by other Joint List politicians.[8] Further divisiveness was caused by Abbas's apparent attempt to improve ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right-wing Likud. He gave an interview with the right-wing pro-Netanyahu Channel 20 Network, where he advocated working with Zionist parties in order to secure the funds and reforms needed for the benefit of Arab Israeli society.[9]

On 21 April 2020, Abbas delivered a historic speech on the Holocaust in the Knesset in which he spoke of the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis. Abbas stated: "As a religious Palestinian Muslim Arab, who was raised on the legacy of Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish who founded the Islamic Movement, I have empathy for the pain and suffering over the years of Holocaust survivors and the families of the murdered." He added, "I stand here to show solidarity with the Jewish people here and forever."[10]

Abbas joined the rest of the Joint List in voting against the Abraham Accords. He described his vote as a protest against the lack of a peace treaty with the Palestinians, adding, "If there will be a real agreement with the Palestinians, there will be real agreements with 55 Muslim countries. But what truly matters is that we are Israelis, and our actions are not supposed to be influenced by whether there is peace with Bahrain."[11]

In January 2021, in the buildup to the 2021 elections, the United Arab List split from the Joint List.[12] Analysts attributed the split to a larger, more fundamental disagreement about whether to engage fully with Israeli politics as a means to improve quality of life for Arab Israeli citizens, which Abbas advocates, or to reject full engagement with domestic Israeli politics in order to focus on the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[5][13][14][15][16][17] Abbas attributed this position to the influence of his mentor, Sheikh Abdullah, and described Abdullah's funeral as a philosophical turning point for him.[3][15]

During the 2021 Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Abbas condemned the burning of several synagogues in Lod by rioters, appealing to Muslim values and respect for the rule of law and vowing to help rebuild them; his actions earned him both praise from Jewish leaders and politicians, and anger from Muslim leaders, including calls to resign.[18][5][19][20][21]

According to the by-laws of the party, limiting MKs to three terms, Abbas was ineligible to run again for office in the 2021 elections. Abbas stated, "I have to respect the institutions of Ra'am, if the bylaws are not changed, even though they didn't anticipate four elections in two years when they made the rules."[11] However, he ran in the election as party leader and the United Arab List won four seats.

Coalition government

On 2 June 2021, after holding negotiations with Israeli opposition figures Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, Abbas renewed his commitment to backing a non-Netanyahu government after signing a coalition agreement with Lapid, thereby forming the thirty-sixth government of Israel.[22][23] A photograph of Abbas signing the agreement, which made Ra'am the first independent Arab party to be part of a governing coalition, was widely circulated; after signing it, Bennett praised Abbas as a "courageous" leader.[24][25][26] The agreement included pledges to spend approximately US$16 billion to improve infrastructure and reduce crime in Arab towns, to protect homes built without permits in Arab villages, and to recognize four Bedouin towns in the Negev desert.[27][28]

On 28 October 2021, the Israeli cabinet approved a plan to spend an US$9.4 billion to improve employment opportunities and health services for Israeli Arabs and improve housing, technology, and infrastructure in Arab areas;[29][30] it included a further US$1 billion to address high crime rates in Arab areas.[29][31] Abbas was widely credited with accomplishing "historic step" forward for Arab Israelis in securing this unprecedented amount of funding.[13][32] The plan was signed into law when the budget passed on 4 November.[33]

Under Abbas's direction, the coalition government has recognized several Bedouin villages and has connected tens of thousands of previously-illegal homes to the electrical grid.[13][34][35][36]

On 9 November 2021, Abbas met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, the first occasion where the king has met an Arab party leader who is a sitting member of the Israeli government; the two discussed the peace process and reiterated their support for a two-state solution.[37][38]

On 21 December 2021, Abbas said that Israel was born as a Jewish state and will remain so, provoking outrage from members of other Arab parties.[39][40]

On 10 February 2022, Abbas rejected Amnesty International's charge that Israel is an apartheid state, saying of Israel: "I would not call it apartheid."[41][42]

Ideology and views

Abbas has been stated to be conservative and socially conservative and has opposed pro-LGBT legislation.[43][44] He has also spoken out in support of conversion therapy for LGBT people.[45] He is frequently referred to as an Islamist.[43][46] He has lambasted political parties on the Israeli left, saying, "What have I to do with the left? … in religious matters, I'm right-wing" and said that he has more in common with conservative Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties than with socially liberal parties.[43] He has publicly recognized Israel as a Jewish state.[47] His decision to do so during comments he made at a business conference caused an uproar in the Arab public.[47]

Personal life

Abbas is married with three children and lives in Maghar; his wife, Yakoot, is a high school English teacher.[5]

Abbas serves as an imam at a mosque near Tiberias.[5]

References

  1. ^ "חברי הכנסת ה-21 מטעם רע"מ-בל"ד". Mako. 10 April 2019.
  2. ^ "MK Mansour Abbas Appointed to Chair Special Committee". Knesset News. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b "'It's Possible to Do Things Differently.' The Arab Kingmaker Who Joined Israel's Far-Right to Oust Netanyahu". Time. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Dental Certification Mansour Abbas". Ministry of Health, Israel. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "The Arab-Israeli Power Broker in the Knesset". The New Yorker. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  6. ^ מנסור עבאס Maariv
  7. ^ Ra'am–Balad list CEC
  8. ^ Sverdlov, Leon (11 July 2020). "Arab MK: LGBTQ rights are human rights, Arab community is evolving". The Jerusalem Post.
  9. ^ "Arab MK under fire from his party for urging cooperation with Netanyahu". The Times of Israel. 25 November 2020.
  10. ^ Dental certification at https://practitioners.health.gov.il/Practitioners/2/search?name=%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A8%20%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A1
  11. ^ a b Hoffman, Gil (19 November 2020). "Meet Mansour Abbas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unlikely ally". The Jerusalem Post.
  12. ^ TOI staff (28 January 2021). "Knesset panel approves Joint List's breakup after talks with Ra'am faction fail". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Arab leader's gamble to play kingmaker in Israel is paying off". NPR. Associated Press. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Why 1 Arab Party Joined Israel's Coalition Government But The Other Did Not". NPR.org. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  15. ^ a b Kingsley, Patrick (4 July 2021). "As Secular Peace Effort Stutters in Israel, Religious Mediators Hope to Step In". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Arab Parties' Fight for Political Control in Israel's Negev Reaches Boiling Point". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  17. ^ Falk, Thomas O. "Can United Arab List change Israeli politics from within?". Al Jazeeralanguage=en. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Lod: Why an Israeli town's mayor is warning of civil war". BBC News. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  19. ^ Daventry, Michael. "Israeli Arab leader Mansour Abbas visits synagogue torched in Lod". Jewish News. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  20. ^ "Mansour Abbas: We will repair synagogues torched by Arabs". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Islamist Leader Faces Ire Over Visit to Burned Synagogue: 'His Position Is in Danger'". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Mansour Abbas signs coalition agreement to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu". The National. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  23. ^ Tov, Michael Hauser (2 June 2021). "Lapid Expected to Tell President He Has Succeeded in Forming a Government". Haaretz. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  24. ^ Kershner, Isabel (2 June 2021). "The Arab party Raam makes history within coalition". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  25. ^ Kingsley, Patrick; Rasgon, Adam (3 June 2021). "Fragile Israeli Coalition to Oust Netanyahu Faces Growing Pressure". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Bennett: Mansour Abbas courageous leader". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  27. ^ Ayyub, Rami (3 June 2021). "Arab Islamist helps clinch Israel's new anti-Netanyahu government". Reuters. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  28. ^ Rasgon, Adam (10 June 2021). "A New Israeli Government Could Mean Help for Neglected Bedouin Villages". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  29. ^ a b "Israeli cabinet backs huge spending plan for Arab minority". BBC News. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  30. ^ "Five-year Plan for Israel's Arab Community: $9 Billion Won't Bridge a Gap Decades in the Making". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  31. ^ Boxerman, Aaron. "Cabinet okays NIS 32 billion to develop Arab Israeli economy, fight crime". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  32. ^ Boxerman, Aaron. "As unprecedented billions planned for under-served Arabs, devil's in the details". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  33. ^ Wootliff, Raoul; staff, T. O. I. "Coalition passes 2021 budget, first in 3.5 years, averting early election threat". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  34. ^ Boxerman, Aaron. "Government legalizes 3 unrecognized Bedouin towns, fulfilling Ra'am's pledge". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  35. ^ "3 Bedouin villages to be recognized, receive infrastructure". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  36. ^ "Fast-tracked Knesset Vote on Unrecognized Villages Passes, Enraging Opposition". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  37. ^ "Jordan's Abdullah Talks Palestinians, Jerusalem With Israeli Lawmaker Abbas". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  38. ^ Boxerman, Aaron. "Ra'am party chief Abbas discusses 2-state solution with Jordan's king". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  39. ^ Hoffman, Gil (22 December 2021). "Israel is a Jewish state and will remain so - Ra'am's Abbas". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  40. ^ Toameh, Khaled Abu (22 December 2021). "Palestinians slam Mansour Abbas for 'recognizing' Israel as a Jewish state". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  41. ^ "Arab party leader in Israel rejects 'apartheid' label". ABC News. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  42. ^ Kraus, Joseph (10 February 2022). "Arab party leader in Israel rejects 'apartheid' label". The Washington Post.
  43. ^ a b c Abu Sneineh, Mustafa (24 March 2021). "Mansour Abbas, the Islamist leader who could be Israel's kingmaker". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  44. ^ "Arab leader's gamble to play kingmaker in Israel is paying off". NPR. The Associated Press. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  45. ^ Boxerman, Aaron (25 March 2021). "How Islamist Ra'am broke Arab politics and may win the keys to the government". Times of Israel. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  46. ^ Halpern, Orly; Qana, Kafr (11 June 2021). "'It's Possible to Do Things Differently.' The Arab Kingmaker Who Joined Israel's Far-Right to Oust Netanyahu". Time (magazine). Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  47. ^ a b Goldenberg, Tia (17 January 2022). "How Islamist lawmaker Mansour Abbas has shaken up Israeli politics". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 18 September 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mansour Abbas.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Mansour Abbas.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mansour_Abbas&oldid=1121802431"