‘Laughable, naive’: Palestinian party’s move to join Israel gov’t

Activists say the decision by the United Arab List party shows ‘a lack of vision among the Palestinian leadership’.

The United Arab List (UAL) is set to become the first party of Palestinian citizens of Israel to take part in a governing coalition after it agreed to join the new Israeli government to be led by Naftali Bennett – a former ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who had called for the annexation of the occupied West Bank. Mansour Abbas, leader of the UAL, set aside his differences with Bennett, the 49-year-old former head of a settler organisation, and centrist leader Yair Lapid to sign up to a coalition of eight parties from across the political spectrum aimed at ending Netanyahu’s 12 years in power. Abbas, 47, who also serves as deputy chairman of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel – which in 1995 split from the now-outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement led by Sheikh Raed Salah – says the move will help him improve the lives of Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up about 20 percent of the approximately nine million citizens.