Feuding between the parties that make up the Joint List had been going on for some time. It all ended when the Feb. 4 deadline arrived for the parties running for the 24th Knesset to submit their lists of candidates to the Central Election Committee. Suddenly, the Joint List was no more, at least in its previous constellation. It formally split up when the Ra’am faction, led by its chairman, Knesset member Mansour Abbas, submitted a separate list of candidates. Ra’am had decided to run on its own without the other parties that made up the Joint List.
Upon submitting his list, Abbas announced that Ra’am was setting off on a new path. “We are neither left nor right. We will work with everyone to advance the issues important to Arab society. We will work with anyone who works with us, in accordance with our values and the interests of the Arab public. As for whom we will recommend to serve as prime minister, we will leave that until after the election, once we have had a chance to examine every option.”
