Speculation grows Ra’am may back Netanyahu government if it enters Knesset

Analysts and pundits are speculating that Ra’am could help prop up a government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu if it ends up entering the Knesset, despite the premier’s vow he won’t rely on the Islamist party for a coalition.

Exit polls on the three television stations predict Ra’am will fail to clear the minimum electoral threshold, but the party’s leader Mansour Abbas claims it has received enough votes to get in.

Mohammad Magadli, a radio host, notes that Abbas has kept open the option of supporting a Netanyahu-led coalition if it includes the extremist candidate Itamar Ben Gvir, but not if Ben Gvir is a minister.

“I definitely don’t rule out the possibility that despite the prime minister’s promises, in hard times they’ll understand there is no choice and Ra’am’s support is needed. Mansour Abbas said himself he doesn’t rule out any possibility,” Aviv Bushinsky, a former Netanyahu aide, tells Army Radio.

According to the most recent Central Elections Committee count, Ra’am would clear the threshold.