Ra'am, the first Arab party to join an Israeli government, is guilty of an "unforgivable crime" by sitting in a government "violating" the Al-Aqsa mosque, the leader of the Hamas terrorist movement charged on Saturday in his first public address in over a year.
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Yahya Sinwar's speech, in front of senior Hamas military-wing officials and local leaders in the Gaza Strip, came on the heels of a month of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.
"I want to speak to Ra'am and the Knesset member Mansour Abbas. That you serve as a support to this government which violates Al-Aqsa is an unforgivable crime," Sinwar said, calling for Ra'am to immediately leave Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's coalition government.
"For an Arab to say that this is a Jewish state is the height of degeneracy," said Sinwar. "You get a few achievements for Arab society, in exchange for the violation of Al-Aqsa?"
Abbas, for his part, hit back at Sinwar in an interview Saturday.
"We don't owe anything to Yahya Sinwar or anyone else. We are what is good for the Arab community and Palestinian nation," Abbas told Channel 12 News.
Abbas said he believed Ra'am has led a process that will bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians closer.
"We believe that the process we are leading inside the State of Israel, of partnership, of tolerant dialogue, will also advance comprehensive peace between the people of Israel and the Palestinian people," he said in the interview.
"We don't owe him anything. We make our decisions here, at our institutions. We will seek advice from all members of Arab society… and nobody will tell us what we can or can't do," Abbas added.
Ra'am officials told the Kan public broadcaster that Sinwar's speech was "incitement" against the party.
"We will not listen to any sermons from Sinwar. He will deal with Gaza, and we will deal with Israeli Arabs," party officials told Kan.
In Sinwar's speech, replete with violent rhetoric, the Hamas leader also accused Israel of "violating" Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
"Whoever takes the decision to repeat this scene [of violating the mosque] will be taking the decision to destroy thousands of synagogues across the world," he said.
"Now, all the resistance factions and military wings must be at their height of readiness and alert. The war won't end when the [Muslim holy month of] Ramadan ends," the terrorist leader added. "The heroic attacks inside Israel showed that the Zionist entity is weaker than a spider's web," he said, calling on others to follow suit.
"Our people in the West Bank, youth of the West Bank, don't wait for anyone's decision! Individual acts have proven themselves exceptionally successfully," said Sinwar.
As for Arabs living in Israel, he urged them, too, to kill Israelis: "Our people living inside the occupier state – in the Negev, in the [northern] Triangle, in Haifa, in Acre, in Jaffa and in Lod – everybody who has a gun should take it, and those who don't have a gun should take a butcher's knife or any knife he can get," he said.
Sinwar warned Israel to cease deploying security forces to the Temple Mount, saying that "the image of soldiers of the occupation army in the Al-Aqsa mosque – cannot repeat itself. The Palestinian people must prepare for a large war with Israel if it doesn't stop what it's doing at Al-Aqsa. The sword of Jerusalem (the Palestinian name for Operation Guardian of the Walls) from the previous Ramadan won't be returned to its sheath until the liberation of Palestine.
"We drew and raised that sword so that the enemy would know that Al-Aqsa did not stand alone and that our nation would stand if Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem were violated," said Sinwar.
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He continued: "Al-Aqsa is in real danger. Our people must prepare for a great battle if the occupation does not cease its aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Violating Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem means a regional, religious war," he said. "When it comes to our holy places, we won't hesitate to make decisions, regardless of the cost."
Sinwar also hailed what he called the changing winds of global opinion against the Jewish state. He praised Palestinians in the diaspora, who he said had brought about the shift in public opinion.
"There is a worldwide shift in favor of the Palestinian cause, in many countries. Those who follow the media and political discourse see a change," said the terrorist leader.
The Hamas leader slammed the United States and the international community for supporting Ukrainian refugees, but not Palestinians.
"The world's conscience is sensitive and delicate… in the face of blue-eyed refugees. Well, our people and its cause have persisted for 70 years," said Sinwar.
