Why it would be bad for Raam to be part of a coalition

Avi Bareli makes a valid case why the Islamic-led Raam party could be bad for Israel, following last week's election:

For Likud to form a coalition with the Arab Ra'am party means that the Israeli government would consist of a political entity the aim of which is to include Israel in the Islamic caliphate and the ideology linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ra'am spokespeople have expressed support for Hamas in the past, and the party is committed to settling descendants of Palestinian refugees in Israel and erode the very character of the Jewish state.

A government whose very existence depends on such a party will not take the fundamental ethos of the state into account or the main interests of its citizens.

Such a right-wing government might be a temporary event, but it will create legitimacy for a permanent alliance between most Arab Knesset members and the Left, as is the aspiration of Yesh Atid, Meretz, and the Labor Party.

The deniers of Israel will be given the status of permanent "arbitrators" between the Zionist parties, and their arbitration will always lean towards eroding the Jewish state.

It is crucial to differentiate between relying on an Islamist, anti-Israeli party and wanting to appeal to Arab Israelis out of a desire to strengthen the standing of non-Jewish citizens in the democratic Jewish state and bridge the socio-economic gap between them and the Jewish citizens.

Seeing what Raam is really like, that's why, if the Likud doesn't form a coalition with them, it'll be for the best. It's the Arab-Israelis we should seek in backing, but not delegates like Mansour Abbas, what with his repellent acts of the past, if he hasn't abandoned them.

That said, it's terrible that mindless, ungrateful politicians like Gideon Saar and Naftali Bennett led to a situation like this, and now we have a badly divided Knesset that could wind up a dire situation thanks to their efforts to undermine right-wing coalitions.

Update: while we should all be wary of Raam, this news clip is decidedly still worth taking notice of:

Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Islamist Ra’am party, intends to make a high-profile press statement in the coming days, once again pledging support for cooperation with Israel’s Jewish majority, seeking to further legitimize the option of the Arab party to be part of a ruling coalition, Channel 12 news.

However, it is unclear how such a statement would change things when Abbas has been advocating for such cooperation for months.

Many key politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett, New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar and Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich, have in recent weeks ruled out any cooperation with Ra’am.

Presumably, he understands the benefits of maintaining good relations with the Judaist parties. But to really prove himself, Abbas would do well to prove he can jettison his more extreme positions, and that way, better trust can be forged. We'll see how this turns out.