Category: Israel

In Israeli politics, the final spots on a party’s electoral list are traditionally reserved for ideological anchors and symbolic figures reflecting its underlying values. In Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, Ohad Ben Ami holds spot 120 after his abduction from his home in Be’eri on October 7; the Democrats chose veterans Oron Haim and Uzi Baram; the BeYachad party chose poet Roni Someck; and the Likud selected local mayors Zvika Brot and Haim Bibas.

The Islamist Ra’am party, however, placed two clerics and former party leaders at the bottom of its slate: Sheik Abdulmalik Dehamshe and Sheik Ibrahim Sarsur. Both are radical figures known for overt anti-Israel and pro-Hamas stances.

In an interview following the establishment of the Bennett-Lapid “Change Government,” which Ra’am joined, Dehamshe felt compelled to justify the move directly to Yahya Sinwar, the supreme leader of Hamas. Throughout the interview, Dehamshe repeatedly addressed Sinwar as his “brother,” arguing that thanks to Ra’am, they retained a stake in Israel’s policy apparatus—including legacy credit for the Gaza disengagement—and boasting that by joining the governing coalition, Ra’am officials were effectively decision-makers inside the State of Israel.

The second figure honored by Ra’am is Sheik Ibrahim Sarsur, a staunch anti-Israel operative who has accused Israel of carrying out a Holocaust in Gaza. Sarsur—unbeknownst to or ignored by prospective coalition allies—has published articles urging the international community to prosecute IDF commanders and combat troops for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He has written openly about dreaming of the return of ‘Palestinian’ refugees into Israel and flying ‘Palestinian’ flags over Jerusalem. Throughout the current war, Sarsur agitated for the release of Israeli-Arab terrorists with blood on their hands who were excluded from hostage exchange deals and remained in Israeli prisons.

Furthermore, Sheik Sarsur eulogized terrorist propagandist Hassan Eslaiah, who embedded with Nukhba forces during the October 7 invasion of Israeli border communities. Despite these radical positions, Sarsur recently penned an extensive treatise arguing why Ra’am must re-enter a coalition with Israeli opposition factions. Writing about the election, Sarsur alleged that the current right-wing government has perpetrated “genocide by Zionist gangs in ‘Palestine’ from October 7 until now.”

Sarsur argued: “The Bennett-Lapid government injected billions into the veins of our Arab local authorities and municipalities.” Ra’am claimed it “prevented the government from taking steps comparable to those taken by the current Netanyahu administration.” Bottom line, Sarsur declared: “The fascist Netanyahu government must be toppled and replaced by a new government upon which the Arab lists will impose an agenda demanding fundamental concessions.”

The two figures anchoring Ra’am’s slate reflect an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist orientation aligned with Hamas and convicted terrorists. Despite this ideology, they advocate integration into an Israeli cabinet solely to extract funding, influence, and leverage—precisely as Dehamshe explained to his “brother,” Yahya Sinwar. With these clerics serving as the party’s ideological compass, it is hardly surprising that Mansour Abbas and his colleagues persistently refuse to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization.