Israel’s Ra’am Party reviewing legal options after Netanyahu signals plan to outlaw Muslim Brotherhood

Israel’s Islamist United Arab List (Ra’am) said on Monday that it was reviewing its legal position after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he would move “soon” to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood in its entirety.

“We are examining the matter politically and legally, and assessing the situation and the information we have. After that, we will issue our position,” Ra’am Party Chairman Mansour Abbas stated to Ynet.

Netanyahu in a video statement on Sunday night praised President Donald Trump for his reported decision “to outlaw and designate the Muslim Brotherhood organization as a terrorist organization.”

“This is an organization that endangers stability throughout the Middle East and beyond the Middle East as well,” said Netanyahu. “The State of Israel has already outlawed part of the organization, and we are working to complete this action soon.”

Jerusalem has outlawed the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement—one of the country’s two Muslim Brotherhood-aligned factions—due to its ties to Hamas, while the Southern Branch remains legal and is represented in the Knesset by Ra’am.

The Ra’am Party helped enable the Bennett-Lapid government, which served in 2021 and 2022, to secure a Knesset majority, marking the first time an independent Arab faction joined an Israeli governing coalition.

Asked in 2024 about his views of Hamas, Abbas said that the terrorists are “part of the Palestinian people.” He has also urged ending the war, claiming the Israel Defense Forces “murdered” 50,000 Gaza civilians.

Also last year, a probe by the Israeli Justice Ministry found evidence that entities controlled by the party “transferred funds or cooperated with organizations outside of Israel that were declared as terrorist groups.”

According to an investigation published in February 2024, Igatha 48 transferred large sums to and carried out joint activities with a Turkish organization called Khir Ummah, which serves as a Hamas front group.

Igatha 48 (“Aid 48") serves as a fundraising arm of the Southern Branch.

Between 2020 and 2023, Igatha 48 transferred more than $120,000 to Khir Ummah, and the two organizations hosted pro-terror summer camps for children in Turkey, the HaKol HaYehudi outlet reported.

The Tel Aviv District Court on April 8, 2024, rejected a request by Igatha 48 to unfreeze its accounts held at Israel’s Bank Leumi. During the court proceedings, lawyers for the Jewish state’s largest bank said the red flags surrounding the charity were “shocking.” The group acknowledged in court that 10 banks had refused to open accounts for it in the past.