Mansour Abbas, chairman of the Islamist Ra’am party, charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday with attempting to rig the next national election by threatening to ban Ra’am over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Speaking to Ynet, Abbas accused Netanyahu of using national security as political weaponry. “Netanyahu has a very clear goal: to try to steal the elections and fix their results in advance,” he said. Abbas claimed that Ra’am poses a direct threat to the current coalition’s hold on power, asserting that his party “will bring the numbers to replace the government of Netanyahu and [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir.”

The comments followed statements by Netanyahu suggesting he would consider outlawing organizations tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, a global Islamist movement that is banned in countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE over alleged terror links. Ra’am is affiliated with the Southern Islamic Movement, an offshoot inspired by the Brotherhood, though it has long emphasized a pragmatic, civic-focused agenda within Israel.

Abbas said his party is now “evaluating the legal situation” after what he described as a direct threat to Ra’am’s right to participate in elections. He has repeatedly denied that the party has any operational ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, calling Ra’am “a legitimate and democratic party.”

Ra’am made history in 2021 by joining the coalition that toppled Netanyahu and brought down years of right-wing dominance. Unlike the outlawed Northern Islamic Movement, which promotes a hardline opposition to Israeli authority, Ra’am has prioritized socioeconomic gains for Arab citizens and cooperation with the state. Current polling predicts the party will retain its five Knesset seats.

A source close to Netanyahu rejected Abbas’s accusations, telling Ynet that any legislation targeting the Muslim Brotherhood has “nothing to do with Ra’am.” The unnamed official added, “To the extent that Ra’am departs from the law, the party will be disqualified from running regardless of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Abbas, however, insisted the motive was political, not legal. He accused Netanyahu of “aiming to taint the legitimacy of Ra’am,” warning that banning a legal political party would be an assault on democratic participation for Israel’s Arab citizens.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)