Mansour Abbas was born on April 22, 1974, in the town of Maghar in Israel's Northern District, to an Arab Israeli Muslim family of farmers. He grew up with 10 siblings and was described as a shy, portly, well-mannered boy who excelled in school but had a clownish side. At age 17, he began delivering sermons at the Peace Mosque in Maghar. Encouraged by his father and following a common path for promising Arab students in Israel, Abbas pursued dentistry and became a qualified dentist. He entered politics as a political activist and has served as a member of the Knesset since April 2019, representing the United Arab List (Ra'am), of which he is chairman. In 2021, Ra'am became the first Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition, and Abbas was appointed chair of the Knesset Special Committee on Arab Society Affairs on April 27, 2021, as well as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. Abbas views himself primarily as an Israeli citizen with Muslim and Arab cultural and religious background.