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Ra'am and the Israeli Islamic Movement's Interaction with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi - Statements over the years shed light on the links between the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and the United Arab List (Ra'am) party, and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Party leader Mansour Abbas has denied any link between them, telling the Saudi newspaper Elaph on May 5: "We have no link to anyone outside the 1948 land [Israel]...and conduct our association with the State of Israel on the basis of citizenship." Nevertheless, a direct dialogue has been held in the past between Abbas and the Hamas leadership. Moreover, Abdulmalik Dehamshe, former chairman of Ra'am and one of the people who inspired the worldview of Mansour Abbas, portrayed the link between the Islamic Movement and the Islamic movements outside of Israel as between the branch and the tree, while asserting that the source of authority remains local. The writer is a senior researcher of the Middle East and radical Islam at the Jerusalem Center.