Dawud Afan, secretary-general of the Ra’am party and former personal advisor to party chairman Mansour Abbas, worked to incite and inflame youth at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning them against “Zionist plots” at the Temple Mount.
4+The activities emerged from Afan’s role as head of the “Al-Qalam” association—an “educational” organization operating under the auspices of the Islamic Movement that works with youth to strengthen their connection to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
As part of this work, Afan would gather youth at the mosque compound and instill in them a narrative claiming Zionist plots aimed at taking control of Al-Aqsa. “With spirit and blood we will redeem Al-Aqsa”—these are the extremist messages and texts he taught the younger generation, and which he now brings as Ra’am’s secretary-general directly into the halls of the Knesset.
4+The revelations about Afan’s activities fit a broader ideological pattern of the Islamic Movement and Ra’am party, in which statements in Arabic completely contradict the “moderate” messages presented to the public in Hebrew. Among other things, party chairman Mansour Abbas previously declared that “canceling the Jewish character of the state—something that could be excellent,” and even clarified in writing that his recognition of Israel as a Jewish state was done solely as a political and tactical necessity to prevent his party from being disqualified from running for the Knesset.
At the same time, Abbas has consistently avoided directly condemning the Hamas terror organization or calling for its destruction, and during media interviews has chosen to storm off broadcasts and disconnect calls when asked repeatedly whether he supports eliminating Hamas following the October 7 massacre.
4+In addition, official documentation showed that Abbas participated in public conferences in Turkey and joint events alongside leaders of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations.
These connections found concrete expression in the funding channels exposed as part of the materials and evidence presented against the party. Among the key evidence was how “Aid 48,” the official “charity” arm of the Islamic Movement and Ra’am, cooperated with and transferred massive sums to Hamas associations—funds that went directly to figures and terror operatives identified with the military wing of the terror organization inside the Gaza Strip.
4+Three official disqualification petitions were filed against Ra’am to the Central Elections Committee ahead of the 26th Knesset elections this past September: by the Likud party, the Otzma Yehudit party, and the “Choosing Life” forum of bereaved families. The petitions, based on Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, presented the ties to terror organizations, the money transfers in Gaza, and the series of statements against the Jewish character of the state.
Meanwhile, the Central Elections Committee decided to disqualify Ra’am from running by an overwhelming majority of 18 supporters to 5 opponents, after accepting the petitioners’ claims regarding support for armed struggle and deliberate concealment of extremist positions. Ra’am rejected the accusations, claimed political persecution, and appealed to the Supreme Court.
4+The saga reached its climax when the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the Elections Committee’s decision and approved Ra’am to run. The nine-judge panel ruled that the evidence presented—including the funding pipelines of the “Aid 48” association and the severe ideological statements—did not meet the stringent legal tests required to disqualify a party, and determined that a “critical mass” of active work toward the state’s destruction or support for terrorism had not been proven. Thus, under the legal approval of the High Court, those same appalling messages and “with spirit and blood” chants that were instilled in youth at Al-Aqsa by the party’s secretary-general now arrive at the Israeli parliament.