Mansour Abbas says Netanyahu told him in 2021 he and Sinwar understood each other

Mansour Abbas, who leads the Arab party Ra'am, has said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once told him privately that he and Yahya Sinwar, the former Hamas leader in Gaza, "understand each other." The Times of Israel reported that Abbas placed the remark in 2021, during talks over whether his party would join a government headed by Netanyahu. Netanyahu's side of the conversation has not been reported.

Ynet reported that Abbas said the conversation took place at Balfour, the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, and that Netanyahu told him he felt "satisfaction" with the connection he had with the Hamas leader of the time. Abbas said he intends to put his account before a state commission of inquiry. Haaretz reported that Abbas made the claim on Tuesday while rejecting accusations by Netanyahu that Arab members of parliament support terrorism.

Who Mansour Abbas is

Abbas chairs Ra'am, the Hebrew acronym for the United Arab List, a party that sits in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. He is a member of the Knesset (MK). According to The Times of Israel, the 2021 coalition talks with Netanyahu did not succeed, and Ra'am went on to join the government formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid instead. That made it the first Arab party to sit in an Israeli governing coalition, a step widely seen at the time as a break with past practice.

The setting of the alleged remark

The Times of Israel reported that the negotiations Abbas described took place during Operation Guardian of the Walls, an 11-day round of fighting between Israel and Hamas in 2021. Abbas said that in the same period Netanyahu told him about a message he had received from Sinwar in 2018, urging him to take a "calculated risk" at a time when talks on a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas were gathering pace, according to the same report. Abbas said learning of that message had shocked him.

In his remarks, as reported by The Times of Israel, Abbas accused Netanyahu of having placed his trust in Sinwar and of neglecting the safety of Israeli citizens. Ynet quoted him questioning how Netanyahu could present himself as the guardian of Israel's security after having expressed, in his presence, complete confidence in Sinwar.

Why it matters now

Netanyahu's handling of Hamas in the years before the war in Gaza has been a central line of criticism from his opponents, who argue that his government's approach allowed the group to strengthen. A state commission of inquiry, the body Abbas says he will address, is the most senior form of official investigation in Israel: it is set up by the government but its members are appointed by the president of the Supreme Court, and it has powers to summon witnesses. Whether and in what form such a commission will examine the events surrounding the war has been a matter of political dispute.

Abbas framed his account as a response to Netanyahu's charge that Arab lawmakers back terrorism, Haaretz reported, turning the accusation back on the prime minister by pointing to what he says Netanyahu told him about Sinwar.

Where the reports differ

The outlets do not agree on where Abbas made his comments. Ynet describes them as coming from an interview with Ynet, while The Times of Israel says Abbas was speaking to Channel 12. Haaretz does not name the outlet. The wording attributed to Netanyahu also varies slightly: Ynet adds the claim about Netanyahu feeling satisfaction with the relationship, which does not appear in the other two reports.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a response from Netanyahu or his office to Abbas's account. The claim rests on Abbas's own recollection of a private conversation, and no report cites any other witness or record of it. It is also not stated when, or whether, Abbas will be able to give his account to a state commission of inquiry.