The Israeli Arab dentist drilling down to the basics of what it means to be human

Photo by Sander Crombach on Unsplash

On Sunday (June 13), if things go as planned, Israel will enter an unfamiliar political phase in its 73-year history. For the first time ever, its governing coalition will have an Israeli Arab party within it.

Many things, most of them unflattering, are said about Mansour Abbas, the dentist who heads that Arab party. Raam, Mr Abbas’s party, is routinely described as “Islamist” and “conservative”. And Mr Abbas himself has been labelled “naïve” for presuming too much, not least that he can play kingmaker, join the government and improve the lives of Israel’s Arab citizens.

But Mr Abbas, a chubby 47-year-old, insists that Raam’s decision to join the government could “change the balance of political forces in the country”.

It’s a bold manifesto, one of hope and faith in the future, and there are reasons to believe Mr Abbas could be on to something.

Let me explain. Mr Abbas had been in full-time politics just three years before he split his party from Joint …