Government leaders
Top Arab-Israeli election candidate tells AFP Netanyahu win would be 'catastrophe'
A leading Arab candidate who could emerge as a kingmaker in next week's Israeli elections warned on Wednesday of disaster if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won again, voicing hope for high Arab turnout. If Netanyahu and his far-right allies return to power, "that would, first and foremost, be a catastrophe for the State of Israel", Raam party leader Mansour Abbas told AFP in an interview. "There is no doubt that the consequences would be extremely serious for us as an Arab community."