Ra’am chief says he’d be happy for Joint List to join coalition, but remains skeptical

Ra’am chief Mansour Abbas says he’d be happy if the majority Arab Joint List also joined the coalition, but that he doesn’t believe they can currently be trusted.

“I’m not against them, but for now it’s impossible to rely on their word. Sometimes they do tricks and agreements with Likud and the ultra-Orthodox,” he tells Channel 12 news.

He adds: “Ultimately the budget will pass with the votes of coalition members and only of coalition members.”

The latter comment follows a report that said Joint List officials have indicated they could help the government pass a budget, in light of the coalition’s razor-thin majority in the Knesset.

In a separate interview with the network, Joint List chief Ayman Odeh says the alliance opposes a budget “that harms the weak. We will only vote according to our values.”

Ra’am ran as part of the Joint List in past elections, but broke from it over Abbas’s willingness to work with then-premier Benjamin Netanyahu before the March 23 vote.

Joint List leader Ayman Odeh speaks to reporters outside his home in Haifa on March 3, 2020. (Flash90)