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Far-right nationalist leader has had a change of heart regarding United Arab List chairman , who he has now described as "brave leader"��and "a decent man".

In an interview with Channel 12 News, the leader walked back on previous comments where he described the politician as "a supporter of terrorism".��

He went on to say that Abbas' actions during the recent protests against had changed his mind.��

"During the war and the riots,��there was something that caught my attention. Abbas��during the tensest moments and said, 'I want to help',"��said Bennett.��

They say Netanyahu is a divisive politician, but he did bring together some pretty unusual allies ... to kick him out of office. Pictured: Yair Lapid, secular leader of Israeli opposition, Naftali Bennett, settler party head, and Mansour Abbas, leader of Islamist Arab party Raam.

— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg)

Bennett referenced a visit made by Abbas to the Beit Yisrael synagogue, which was set on fire during protests against Israeli aggressions.��

"I saw a decent man, I saw a brave leader, it must be said. Now, time will tell. I can't guarantee anything. But when he extends a hand and says something very simple: 'I want to take care of Arab Israelis’ civilian concerns...' If you look at the coalition agreements, which we’ll make public, you won’t find a single word of nationalism," he added.��

Bennett’s new found respect for Abbas follows the recent announcement that the United Arab List will join Yamina and Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, to form a coalition government, ousting longtime PM Benjamin Netanyahu from office.

Bennett described the inclusion of the United Arab List as "a non-negligible opportunity to turn over a new leaf in the relationship between the state and Arab Israelis".

During the interview, Bennett also addressed his promise from the most recent election campaign to not serve in a government led by Yair Lapid, which he has subsequently agreed to do.��

"The core promise of this election was to extricate Israel from chaos... I realised that if we stuck to that [pledge], we wouldn’t extricate the country from chaos," he said.

Leader of the United Arab List Mansour Abbas also expressed his reticence about joining Lapid’s governing coalition, describing it as a “difficult decision”.

"This is the first time an Arab��party is a partner in the formation of a government..This agreement has a lot of things for the benefit of [Palestinian] society, and Israeli society in general,"��he told reporters.��