Otzma Yehudit issues request for Ra'am, Abbas to be barred from 2026 Knesset elections
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, chairman of Otzma Yehudit, stated that Ra'am and Abbas were "wolves in sheep's clothing," and called them "Hamas-supporting terrorists."
Otzma Yehudit, a right-wing Israeli political party, has requested the Central Elections Committee to prohibit the Arab Ra am party and its chairman, MK Mansour Abbas, from participating in the 2026 Israeli elections. Addressing the matter on Wednesday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who also chairs Otzma Yehudit, labeled Ra am and Abbas as "wolves in sheep's clothing" and characterized them as "Hamas-supporting terrorists."
The party's request stemmed from Ra am's denial of Israel's existence as a Jewish state and its alleged support for an armed struggle against it. Otzma Yehudit further revealed that a report by the Nonprofit Registry disclosed that the Ra am-affiliated Aid 48 nonprofit organization had transferred funds and collaborated with terrorist organizations.
Regarding Abbas personally, the party had previously called for his disqualification from the Knesset following his August remarks, in which he claimed that Arab parties were compelled to accept Israel as a Jewish state to evade being barred from elections. The party's statement noted that Itamar Ben-Gvir, a senior partner with Naftali Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot in a future government, acknowledged that he does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The statement asserted that such an admission was "delusional" and attributed it to Abbas's affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, questioning the sincerity of Bennett and Eisenkot's aspirations to form a government with him.
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