Ra’am chief calls for Jewish-Arab cooperation, doesn’t rule out any Knesset bloc

Ra’am chief Mansour Abbas expresses a wish for cooperation between the Jewish and Arab communities in a rare prime time address in Hebrew, but doesn’t say whom he’ll back as prime minister.

“This is the time to look for the common denominator,” Abbas says in a speech in Nazareth.

He says he isn’t “blinded” by his status as potential kingmaker after the recent Knesset election. “I don’t belong to any bloc,” he says, adding that he belongs to the “bloc” of Arab citizens seeking a positive change in Jewish-Arab relations.

“I have focused on what I will do, not what I won’t do. I don’t rule out the right, nor the left,” he declares.

“There is more that unites us than separates us,” Abbas says. “I extend my hand to create an opportunity for coexistence in this land, which is holy to the three monotheistic religions and both nations.”

He slams violence against “any person due to their political views or religious or ethnic identity,” adding: “We have committed to sanctifying life and despising violence.”

“If we don’t manage to eradicate racism, we will leave an impossible reality for the next generation,” he concludes. “This is time for change.”