Mansour Abbas: We won’t compromise on our national and civilian rights

Coalition kingmaker, Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas, tells the Turkish Anadolu Agency that his party will not compromise on either its national or civilian rights when deciding who to back to become the next prime minister.

“Our red lines are our rights whether national or civilian rights,” Abbas says. “We don’t negotiate or compromise on these rights. We may not be able to achieve them all, but we will not abandon them.”

The comments come as Netanyahu loyalists have intensified their campaign in recent days to legitimize support for the idea that Ra’am will prop up a right-wing, Netanyahu-led coalition from outside the government, claiming that the Islamist party is only focused on civilian issues.

Abbas says he is prepared to back a candidate to form the next government “in return for “improving conditions of the Arab citizens and ending injustice, marginalization and exclusion against them.”

He says a broad government plan to combat crime in Arab towns and an end to Arab home demolitions are among Ra’am’s demands in exchange for its backing of the next premier.