Ra'am head Mansour Abbas: 'We are fully in the coalition'

Abbas said he signed a coalition agreement, and even though there were still details that needed to be worked out, he would honor it for the entire term of the government.

JUNE 14, 2021 11:58

Updated: JUNE 14, 2021 11:59

Ra'am Party leader Mansour Abbas. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM) — Ra'am Party leader Mansour Abbas.

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Ra'am Party head Mansour Abbas reaffirmed on Monday his party's commitment to serving as a full partner in the new governing coalition.

Speaking in an interview with KAN Radio, he downplayed Ra'am MK Sa'eed Alharomi's abstention on the vote to form the government that resulted in the 60-59 passing.

"Alharomi is in the coalition," Abbas said. "His abstention was known and agreed upon in advance, and we are moving forward. Had there been real danger of the government not being formed, he would have voted in favor of it. That was our deal."

יו"ר רע"ם מנסור עבאס ל-@golan_aryeh: ההימנעות של ח"כ אלחרומי בהשבעה הייתה בהסכמה, הוא חלק מהקואליציה | האזינו לריאיון ב-#הבוקרהזה https://t.co/CtUxdb34Hp(צילום: אוליבייה פיטוסי, פלאש 90) pic.twitter.com/IJQI86zVEw
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 14, 2021

Abbas said he signed a coalition agreement, and even though there were still details that needed to be worked out, he would honor it for the entire term of the government.

In return for his support of the new coalition, Alharomi demanded that a clause in the coalition agreement regarding illegal construction in the Negev be cancelled.

Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Interior Minister Arye Deri pressured Alharomi and offered him assurances, including on the topic of the Kaminitz Law that addresses illegal construction, in an attempt to get him to vote against the government.

Netanyahu would have remained in power if the prospective new coalition's razor-thin majority had lost the support of even one MK in a vote of confidence in the Knesset.