Photo by Esty Dziubov/TPS on 16 April, 2019

Will the Muslim Brotherhood Man Save Netanyahu? Criticism of Mansour Abbas in Arab Media

Arab Affairs By Baruch Yedid/TPS • 24 March, 2021

Jerusalem, 24 March, 2021 (TPS) -- Since Mansour Abbas and his Raam party emerged as the most important and critical factor in the Israeli election campaign, Arab elements, including those affiliated with Hamas, have criticized Abbas and condemned him in the face of the possibility of Raam’s cooperation with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ayman Dalul, a Hamas operative from the Gaza Strip, wrote that the dissolution of the Zionist entity lies in Arab unity, but now it turns out that it is the Arab leadership in Israel that is fighting the disintegration of the occupation itself, thus preventing continued instability in Israel and the fifth round of elections.

Said Basharath, a released prisoner and a publicist affiliated with Hamas, noted that Abbas has become the most important factor in the Israeli election campaign and that he can save Netanyahu even though it is Netanyahu’s allies who condition their joining the coalition by not joining Abbas.

Basharath called Abbas Netanyahu’s “61st sheep” which may also be the reason for the Israeli prime minister’s failure, because it is precisely the “pigs in the coalition” who demand not to be dependent on him.

Muhammad Ibrahim wrote that Abbas now holds in his hands the key to the despicable future of Netanyahu’s coalition due to his consent to support him from outside the government.

Ahmad al-Qadi, an activist in the boycott of Israel movement, tweeted that the election results are a direct result of the policy of concessions and the erasure of Palestinian positions by the Israeli Arab leadership, adding that Mansour Abbas is now taking this phenomenon to the extreme.

The possibility of cooperation between Abbas, a Muslim Brotherhood member and the representative of the southern faction of the Islamic movement in Israel, and the right-wing government in Israel has given Abbas the title “Machiavelli” on the social networks and others have condemned him as someone whose moves are intended to legitimize “the occupation.”

Abbas is also accused of being responsible for destroying the political leadership among Israeli Arabs. It should be noted that Abbas was recently criticized by Hamas after calling the Palestinian prisoners “terrorists,” even though he backed down and apologized.

On the other hand, other sources on social media praise Abbas for the fact that he managed to get the support of Israeli Arabs, even though he said in recent months that he is expected to cooperate with the right-wing government as well.

Alongside the derogatory remarks and the words of appreciation towards Abbas, the criticism of the prominent failure of the other factions of the Arab-majority Joint List as the one to blame for a strategic failure is also prominent on social media.

Meanwhile, Hamas reacted to the results of the Israeli elections and said that the identity of the future Israeli government will not change the nature of the conflict since Hamas is not acting in the face of changes in Zionist society.