Journalist says Likud has contacts with Ra'am party — Jerusalem Post

In Israel, journalist Mohammad Magadli said that senior officials from the Likud party and people from the entourage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are maintaining contacts with the Arab party Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas. He said this on the 103FM radio station, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Statement on non-public contacts

According to Magadli, Likud representatives and people close to Netanyahu spoke with Abbas repeatedly after polling stations closed. The journalist claims that the communication channel between Likud and Ra'am allegedly never stopped operating: according to him, even the highest-ranking Likud officials approach the party.

Magadli also said that Ra'am is not interested in publicly disclosing such contacts because it sees them as a way to influence political processes. He expressed the view that Netanyahu's camp would be ready to rely on the support of Arab parties, including Ra'am and the Joint List, if this were necessary to form a government.

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Likud's denial

Likud rejected the journalist's claims. In a party statement, the reports were called “completely fake news,” and it was said that there have been and will be no contacts with Arab parties that, in Likud's wording, support terrorism. The party also called the claims an attempt to legitimize the left-wing bloc's reliance on such political forces.

Criticism of Yair Netanyahu's statements

During the interview, Magadli criticized a post by Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister's son, on social network X about Israel's Arab citizens. The journalist said that the country's Arab citizens contributed to supporting the state after the October 7 attacks, and also recalled that there were abducted and killed people among them. He also criticized National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for his rhetoric regarding Arab citizens.