Mansour Abbas

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Not to be confused with Mahmoud Abbas.

Mansour Abbas
מנסור עבאס2.jpg
Faction represented in the Knesset
2019United Arab List
2019–2021Joint List
2021–United Arab List
Personal details
Born (1974-04-22) 22 April 1974 (age 47)
Maghar, Israel

Mansour Abbas (Arabic: منصور عباس‎, Hebrew: מַנְסוּר עַבַּאס‎, born 22 April 1974)[1] is an Israeli Arab politician. He is currently the leader of the United Arab List and represents the party in the Knesset. He was appointed as the chair of Special Committee on Arab Society Affairs in the Knesset on 27 April 2021.[2]

Early life and education[]

Abbas was born in the town of Maghar, where he began delivering sermons at the Peace Mosque at the age of 17. He attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to study dentistry, where he was elected chair of the Arab Students Committee. While at university he met Abdullah Nimar Darwish, the founder of the Islamic Movement. He also studied political science at the University of Haifa.

Career[]

Abbas is a qualified dentist.[3]

In 2007, Abbas became Secretary General of the United Arab List,[4] and in 2010 he was elected Deputy Chairman of the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement.

The United Arab List and Balad ran a joint list for the April 2019 Knesset elections, with Abbas as the top candidate.[5] He was subsequently elected to the Knesset as the alliance won four seats. Abbas aroused controversy when he spoke in support of conversion therapy to LGBTQ+ youth in an interview with Walla News. He was condemned by other Joint List politicians.[6] Further divisiveness was caused by Abbas's apparent attempt to improve ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right-wing Likud. He gave an interview with the right-wing pro-Netanyahu Channel 20 Network, where he advocated working with Zionist parties in order to secure the funds and reforms needed for the benefit of Arab Israeli society.[7]

On 21 April 2020, Abbas delivered a historic speech on the Holocaust in the Knesset in which he spoke of the suffering of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis. Abbas stated: "As a religious Palestinian Muslim Arab, who was raised on the legacy of Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish who founded the Islamic Movement, I have empathy for the pain and suffering over the years of Holocaust survivors and the families of the murdered." He added, "I stand here to show solidarity with the Jewish people here and forever."[8]

Abbas joined the rest of the Joint List in voting against the Abraham Accords. He described his vote as a protest against the lack of a peace treaty with the Palestinians, adding, "If there will be a real agreement with the Palestinians, there will be real agreements with 55 Muslim countries. But what truly matters is that we are Israelis, and our actions are not supposed to be influenced by whether there is peace with Bahrain."[9]

In January 2021, in the buildup to the 2021 elections, the United Arab List split from the Joint List.[10] According to the by-laws of the party, limiting MKs to three terms, Abbas was ineligible to run again for office in the 2021 elections. Abbas stated, "I have to respect the institutions of Ra'am, if the bylaws are not changed, even though they didn't anticipate four elections in two years when they made the rules."[9] However, he ran in the election as party leader and the United Arab List won four seats. On 2 June 2021, after holding negotiations with Israeli opposition figures Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, Abbas renewed his commitment to backing a non-Netanyahu government after signing a coalition agreement with Lapid.[11][12]

Personal life[]

Abbas is married with three children and lives in Maghar.

References[]

  1. ^ "חברי הכנסת ה-21 מטעם רע"מ-בל"ד". Mako. 10 April 2019.
  2. ^ "MK Mansour Abbas Appointed to Chair Special Committee". Knesset News. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Dental Certification Mansour Abbas". Ministry of Health, Israel. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  4. ^ מנסור עבאס Maariv
  5. ^ Ra'am–Balad list CEC
  6. ^ Sverdlov, Leon (11 July 2020). "Arab MK: LGBTQ rights are human rights, Arab community is evolving". The Jerusalem Post.
  7. ^ "Arab MK under fire from his party for urging cooperation with Netanyahu". The Times of Israel. 25 November 2020.
  8. ^ Dental certification at https://practitioners.health.gov.il/Practitioners/2/search?name=%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A8%20%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%90%D7%A1
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoffman, Gil (19 November 2020). "Meet Mansour Abbas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unlikely ally". The Jerusalem Post.
  10. ^ TOI staff (28 January 2021). "Knesset panel approves Joint List's breakup after talks with Ra'am faction fail". Times of Israel. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Mansour Abbas signs coalition agreement to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu". The National. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  12. ^ Tov, Michael Hauser (2 June 2021). "Lapid Expected to Tell President He Has Succeeded in Forming a Government". Haaretz. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

External links[]

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