Ra’am leader: ‘Reasonableness’ standard a ‘line of defense’ for Arab community

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

Ra'am party chief Mansour Abbas leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Ra'am party chief Mansour Abbas leads a faction meeting at the Knesset on June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Islamist Arab party leader MK Mansour Abbas tells the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee that the standard of “reasonableness” in judicial review is an important tool for Arab Israelis seeking redress in the Israeli court system.

Abbas says authorities have delayed in making decisions to address surging violent crime in Arab communities and that the reasonableness test is “a line of defense against these destructive decisions.”

He adds that the bill in its current form — which would impose a ban on the judiciary from scrutinizing the “reasonableness” of the decisions by the government and elected officials — makes Arabs feel abandoned by the state and urges the committee to drop the legislation.

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