Fearing ban, Israeli Arab party cuts ties to Islamist groups

After denying the party is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, United Arab List Chairman Mansour Abbas announces plans to separate from the Islamic Movement in Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

The United Arab List, also known by the Hebrew acronym “Ra’am,” will cut its ties to a controversial Islamist movement, the party’s chairman announced on Saturday.

Speaking with Channel 12, MK Mansour Abbas said the UAL will sever its ties to the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, including the Shura Council.

While he pledged to distance the UAL from the Islamic Movement, an organization rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology, Abbas also denied the party was affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“First of all, we are not a part of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Abbas said. “If we were part of the Muslim Brotherhood, I wouldn’t be in the Knesset, I wouldn’t even be sitting with you here.”

Abbas added that his party’s inclusion in the short-lived Bennett-Lapid government from 2021 to 2022 helped inspire the decision to move away from the Islamic Movement.

“The second thing is that we have learned lessons from what we had [in the previous government]. The UAL today is moving in the direction of being a completely civic party, with separate institutions.”

The UAL chief added that the party is slated to formally approve plans to cut ties with the Islamic Movement’s Shura Council at a conference next month.

In an interview with Haaretz on Saturday night, Abbas said the decision to part ways with the Islamic Movement was part of a larger effort to appeal to a wider array of Arab voters, and not “only those identified with the Islamic Movement.”

Abbas’ comments come roughly two weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the UAL could be banned as part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The State of Israel has already outlawed part of the organization, and we are working to complete this action soon,” Netanyahu said.

Historically, the Islamic Movement in Israel, established in 1971, was effectively a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 1996, however, the Islamic Movement split into two factions, the Northern and Southern branches, after part of the group’s leadership endorsed the formation of the United Arab List party.

While Israel later banned the Northern Branch over its support for Hamas, the UAL has presented itself as a politically moderate force representing the Israeli Arab minority’s religiously observant Muslim community.