Mansour Abbas, who heads the Raam faction, attends a hearing at Israel’s Supreme Court in Jerusalem March 14, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun.

i24 News – Categorically condemning the October 7 massacre, Arab-Israeli politician Mansour Abbas called on Palestinian terrorist groups to lay down their arms and seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

For the first time in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the head of an Arab party in Israel calls on all Palestinian factions to lay down their weapons and unite for an unarmed political struggle.
Knesset member Mansour Abbas. https://t.co/hviP4znAF5

— Fania Oz-Salzberger 🇮🇱🟣⚖️ פניה עוז-זלצברגר (@faniaoz) December 1, 2023

“In order to move forward, the Palestinian militant groups need to take down their arms,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. The political use of violence by Palestinian terrorists has “always failed” and the “Palestinian people were the ones to pay the price” for these actions, he added.

In 2021, Abbas broke a longstanding taboo when he led his Arab party into Israel’s government some two years ago; the shaky coalition, headed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, ultimately collapsed, making way for the latest government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader.

“They need to work hand in hand with the Palestinian Authority in order to realize a national movement that would aspire for a Palestinian state with a peaceful resolution alongside with the State of Israel,” Abbas said.

Of the Hamas atrocities on October 7, Abbas said “this cannot be discussed and cannot be justified because it goes against all human values and religious values as well.”