Avi Shoshan revealed on 'The Patriots': 'I thought Abbas was different from Tibi, I was wrong'

During 'The Patriots' program, panelist Avi Shoshan revealed on Wednesday that he changed his mind about Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas after watching a documentary by Arab affairs correspondent Omri Haim. Shoshan, who previously expressed positive views toward Abbas, admitted that the content presented in the film created a deep internal conflict for him.

Shoshan said that he had worked with Arabs for 14 years and that he has no hatred toward them. According to him, he believed that "all of us in the end, the vast majority, want to live in peace, live life, provide for the family, and live well." He even noted that he saw Abbas as a different figure from Ahmad Tibi or Ayman Odeh:

"Listen, he doesn't speak like Ahmad Tibi, he doesn't speak like Ayman Odeh. He speaks good messages."

However, after Omri Haim recommended that he watch his film, a change occurred in his perception. Shoshan described his feeling: "I say to myself, you know, I want to slap myself." He added that "there is a huge public in Israel that sees Mansour Abbas, and suddenly sees an Arab who speaks texts that you want to listen to, texts that want peace, brotherhood, and friendship between us."

The contradiction arose when Shoshan was exposed in the film to Abbas's positions regarding the "right of return," the "marches of return," and "house demolitions." Following this, Shoshan turned directly to Abbas:

"I am turning to Mansour Abbas, as someone who feels like a useful idiot for speaking here in your favor. I want you to say one thing, I want to know if this is not an Islamic strategy to lull us to sleep for 100 years."

Shoshan challenged Abbas to declare that "the State of Israel will be the state of the Jewish people, not for the next 20 years, but also in 100 years," and expressed doubt whether Abbas would actually agree to say that.