NEWSRAEL: Mansour Abbas is the leader of the Ra'am party, the first ever Arab party to take part in an Israeli government. While he says things that can seem to support Israel as a Jewish state and have gotten a lot of criticism from other Arab leaders, he is suspected by many to be using lies and subterfuge with regards to his true beliefs. While we are all wondering about Mansour Abbas, the Bennett-Lapid government has given him not only many political concessions, but hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s money. 

Here is an expert on the subject and some of his findings.

In texts written exclusively in Arabic, Israel is the "Zionist enemy," the land belongs to Muslims, and relations between Jews and Arabs are in a temporary hudna, until the vision of Islam is realized. Arab expert Yehonatan Dahuh-Halevi presents disturbing research and raises the ideological closeness between RAAM and the leaders of Hamas and al Qaeda.

What does Mansour Abbas think in Arabic? What is the 'I believe' of the religious leaders in the southern faction of the Islamic movement? 

A report issued by the Jerusalem Center for Public and State Affairs reveals the deep perception of the RAAM party and its leader, one of the most powerful and significant politicians in the Knesset today, on whom the government and the coalition depend.

Jonathan Dahuh-Halevi, an Orientalist and senior researcher at the institute, has analyzed countless publications by Abbas and his movement in recent years, their positions on social media and sermons by clerics in mosques - and his revelations are quite fascinating and disturbing.

In these texts, written exclusively in Arabic, Israel is the "Zionist enemy", Jews have no rights in a land belonging exclusively to Muslims, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall are the lands of the Waqf, and relations between Jews and Arabs are under temporary hudna until the vision of Islam is fully realized. 

The scriptures reveal the ideological and friendly closeness between the leaders of the Ra'am and terrorists such as the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and Abdullah Azzam, from Makimiel Qaeda and the spiritual father of Osama bin Laden.

Dahuh-Halevi listened extensively to MK Abbas' speeches and sermons in the mosques.

"I go through the texts that Abbas writes and hear his sermons, and understand that this is not just a dentist (Mansour Abbas' occupation before political life). He is an educated cleric and thinker, a brilliant man and well versed in Islamic law. He is an imam. "Dissemination of Islam by various means." This is a profound cleric who is drawn to the political world."

- And what do you understand?

"I understand that there is a religious and political ideology here, with a purpose and goals. The words of Abbas and the sages of the Islamic Movement indicate that there is an overarching goal to 'liberate Palestine' and establish an Islamic caliphate. This country, in their view, should return to Islamic hands."

- And so, should the weapon sheathed - temporarily?

"In one of his publications, he writes that the armed struggle of the founder of the Islamic Movement, Abdullah Nimer Darwish, was ineffective and did not bring results. But what is effective? The political way in the Knesset. "Abbas says, but do not give up on the national and religious struggle. In one of his texts, he addresses Hamas and advises them on the role they should play in the Palestinian arena."

- What does he advise Hamas?

"As far as Abbas is concerned, Hamas is a legitimate organization, and additional material from RAAM members also shows the sympathetic attitude towards Sheikh Yassin. In 2017, he called on Hamas in Gaza to adopt Khaled Mashaal's political document, and to preserve the struggle and resistance by all means, implicitly also armed struggle, as a national asset. The struggle that Hamas is waging is seen as an asset in Abbas' eyes.

- In some texts, the State of Israel is defined by him as the Zionist enemy.

"In a speech in Ramallah, Abbas called Israel the 'enemy' common to all Palestinians, including Israeli Arabs. Abbas claims that archeology books have found nothing about the connection between Jews and Israel, and that the Jews are invaders in the country. In his words, he mocks the Jewish religion itself."

"One of the Greatest Leaders"

Only five years ago, Abbas wondered how the Jews talked about the connection between them and the Land of Israel. "When did the Jews have actual sovereignty in Palestine?" Abbas wrote, "Your history indicates that the actual rule of the Jews did not exceed several decades."

In 2015, Abbas sided with the leader of the northern faction, Sheikh Raed Salah, and wrote the following on his Facebook page: [Western Wall], and you have no right to the city of Al-Quds [Jerusalem]. You [Jews] are invading this land. These are the facts."

A year later, Abbas spoke in Ramallah, calling for a unification of forces between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas: "It is not enough to say that our main confrontation obliges us to end the split. Our main confrontation is with our Zionist enemy." In the same speech, Abbas called for "the return of the immigrants to their country, and that the refugees return to their homeland."

In the midst of the Syrian civil war, Abbas mourned the assassination of killer terrorist Samir Kuntar, a Haran family killer and Israeli policeman, who was released in a deal with Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of the late hostages Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser and returned to terrorist activities. It is up to our enemies to assassinate one of the leaders of the resistance."

- On the other hand, Abbas sits at a Globes conference and says that Israel is a Jewish state.

"In this matter, it is important to draw attention to the words of 'Abd al-Malak Dahamsheh, the former chairman of Ra'am and one of the people who greatly influenced Abbas. Dahamsheh explained Abbas' words that Israel is a Jewish state as a fact."

- So you're basically saying that Abbas is playing a double game?

"I do not analyze Abbas' steps politically. I bring up the things he says over the years and how he wants the public to understand them. Do these things indicate a certain gap between the pragmatic approach and the positions he has publicly expressed over the years? Abbas himself makes clear that his positions contradict the principles of Islam. In my humble opinion, he is consistent in his positions. "

- In the report you reveal manifestations of sympathy on the part of Ra'am with Yassin and even with the leaders of al Qaeda.

"In a mourning announcement for the death of the Islamic Movement's leader, Darwish, Sheikh Hamad Abu Deabs, the movement's chairman at the time, described him as loyal to the path of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and Yassin's twin brother. "At a ceremony honoring Darwish, a year before his death, Abu Deabs revealed that the first branch of the Islamic Movement in Rahat was a 'joint project' of Yassin and Darwish."

"Anyone who reads and follows these texts, speeches and publications, certainly activists of the movement, may well understand what the sources of inspiration of the Islamic movement are, who is the enemy and to whom the country belongs exclusively. "We will end the future religious war in which the Muslims will expel all the Jews from all of Palestine."