In appeal to opposition bloc, ex-defense minister Ya’alon says Mansour Abbas should be minister in next government

Moshe Ya’alon, a former defense minister turned vocal Netanyahu critic, calls on the Jewish-led opposition parties to form a government with Ra’am and offer a ministerial post to its chair, MK Mansour Abbas.

In a lengthy post on X, Ya’alon, who says he knows the Ra’am leader both personally and professionally, sings Abbas’s praises, calling him a “courageous Arab Israeli leader” and noting that he has both recognized Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and supports universal recruitment, either to the military or in national service, two conditions set out by Yashar chair Eisenkot for working with any party.

He contrasts Abbas’s actions with those of far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, recalling how, during  the violent clashes in mixed Jewish-Arab cities in May 2021, he visited the sites of the violence “to pour water” on flames fanned by “Ben Gvir’s Kahanists.”

“I know Itamar Ben Gvir from his time as a subject of Shin Bet surveillance, when he incited hatred, agitation, and violence in the Hebron area,” Ya’alon writes. “He was convicted on eight separate indictments for his actions, including support for a (Jewish) terror organization.”

“I know Bezalel Smotrich from the period leading up to the Disengagement, when he was arrested on suspicion of planning to detonate 700 liters of fuel on Route 1,” the former defense minister and IDF chief continues.

“Mansour Abbas is not Jewish, but I would hope that most Israeli citizens align more with his values than the values of the messianists, racists, and fascists.”

“Mansour Abbas needs to be appointed a minister in the Israeli government,” Ya’alon appeals. “Stop accepting the game rules of those who are responsible for October 7 and are prepared to burn down the country just to stay in power.”