A marathon of consultations at President Reuven Rivlin’s residence in Jerusalem began the morning of April 5. All the parties elected to the 24th Knesset are meeting with Rivlin to give their recommendations as to which legislator has the best chances of forming a new government and winning the Knesset’s approval. The first party to meet with Rivlin this morning was the Likud, the largest one. The smallest, Raam, should meet with Rivlin this evening. Each meeting is open to the media and broadcast live to the public, in keeping with the president’s directive to act with full transparency. 

The man in the spotlight is, undoubtedly, Knesset member Mansour Abbas, head of Raam. As of this writing, he is known as the “kingmaker” of Israel’s 2021 election, since his party has yet to announce its preferred candidate.

It is possible that the party will not recommend any candidate. April 1, all of Israel focused on Abbas' speech at the Ramada hotel in Nazareth that was broadcast live on radio and television. Abbas made a point of not naming his choice.

Addressing all Israelis, he said, “I, Mansour Abbas, a man of the Islamic Movement, am a proud Arab and Muslim, a citizen of the state of Israel who heads the leading, biggest political movement in Arab society, courageously champion a vision of peace, mutual security, partnership and tolerance between the peoples.”