Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday, responded to a speech by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar calling on Islamist Ra'am party to leave the coalition.
Sinwar said the Israeli Arab Islamist party should not cooperate with the Israeli government in a speech on Saturday, where he also called on Arab citizens of Israel to take up arms and carry out terror attacks.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Hamas leader in Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar
(Photo: Reuters, AFP)
He called on Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas to dismantle the Israeli government and said he was a traitor to Muslims, for being a part of it.
"It seems that it is already perfectly clear at this point that Hamas does not like this government," Bennett said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. "Perhaps they miss the Qatari cash transfers," he said, referring to the practice of the previous government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, to allow Qatari aid to be delivered in cash to the Gaza Strip. His government had ended that practice.
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A resident of Gaza receives cash delivered by Qatar to the Gaza Strip in 2019
(Photo: AFP)
"Maybe they just don't like our joint work to improve the lives of the Arabs in Israel," Bennett said. "This is a very important turning point, in which all masks come off, Hamas's desire to overthrow our government says it all, and we must not let Sinwar win," he said. "Within all of the political noise, this government also made good progress, especially on the economy."
Sinwar directed his words directly at Abbas. "I want to turn to Ra'am members and Abbas - the security network that you provide to the government harms Al-Aqsa mosque and it is a crime that is unforgivable, he said. "You can't provide support to any government that makes decisions to harm and divide Al-Aqsa. History will remember this Abbas."
"When an Arab man says this country is Jewish, it's vile, and believe me I tried to find a delicate way to say it. An Arab person who says this country isn't a racist state of Jewish supremacy - its despicable and it must be stopped," Sinwar added.
Sinwar also referred to the Islamist Ra'am party's suspension of its partnership in the current coalition, over recent violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces on Temple Mount.
"Our brothers in the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, you have to make a decision now and not just suspend your activities in the Knesset. If you have a conscience, tonight you have to decide."
Several hours after Sinwar's speech, MK Abbas rejected Sinwar's allegations.
"We reject Yahya Sinwar's accusations and owe him nothing. We are only committed to our Arab society here in Israel. We have achieved a lot of goals, and we still have a long way to go for a better future for our society."
Abbas said Sinwar should concentrate on Gaza and not on the Arab citizens of Israel.
Leaders of the predominately Arab Joint List had also stated in the past that Sinwar should remove himself for internal Arab affairs and concentrate on Gaza.