Ra’am leader Abbas denies involvement in alleged election interference, accuses Netanyahu of incitement against Arabs

Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas denies any involvement in alleged foreign interference in Tuesday’s election, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of incitement against Arab citizens in response to the unprecedented electoral gains made by Arab parties.

“Ra’am has no connection whatsoever to the affair in question or to any other such affairs,” Abbas says in a statement, pledging to cooperate fully with law enforcement.

He welcomes Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg’s request for a Shin Bet investigation into suspected foreign funding aimed at influencing the election, saying “safeguarding the integrity of elections and upholding the rule of law are civic and democratic duties to which we are firmly committed.”

Invoking the Qatargate affair, Abbas says: “To Abu Yair [Netanyahu], who employs Qatari agents in his office, we have one message in response to the campaign of incitement and delegitimization he is waging against Arab citizens: There will be nothing [found], because there is nothing.”

“But unlike you, in our case, it is the truth and not just another lie,” he adds, referring to the corruption cases for which the premier is on trial.

Netanyahu aide Yonatan Urich, who remains employed by the premier, has acknowledged working for Qatar while also serving in the Prime Minister’s Office, both before and after October 7, 2023, and is under investigation along with other Netanyahu aides over the affair.

Sohlberg has presented no public evidence substantiating the suspicions or identifying the foreign entities involved, but Netanyahu’s Likud has seized on the investigation to accuse Arab parties of benefiting from foreign-funded vote buying.