Ra’am threatens coalition over Joint List talks

One month into Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government, the Ra’am (United Arab List) Party threatened to stop supporting the coalition on Sunday due to talks with the rival Joint List.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz had approached Joint List leaders about providing a parliamentary safety net from the opposition on the state budget and other key legislation.

This angered Ra’am MKs, who do not want to share credit with their rivals for any funding brought to the Arab sector. In a tweet Sunday morning, Ra’am faction chairman Walid Taha said he had informed the coalition that Ra’am would not participate in committee meetings or vote on laws until further notice.

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas initially denied that the crisis was over the rift with his party’s nemesis and stressed that it was only over professional considerations impacting his Arab-Israeli constituency.

“Ra’am is pushing the government and the ministries to make practical decisions for Arab society,” he wrote on social media. “What is happening between our party and the government coalition has no connection whatsoever to the Joint List. Ra’am has decided that its business plan with the government is a true and transparent partnership that respects the stature of Arab citizens and the party’s right to impact the government’s policies so its decisions will be better for us. Arab citizens are tired of being bench players on the side and under the table, which has harmed the stature of Arab citizens and their political achievements.”

But later, in coalition talks with cabinet secretary Shalom Shlomo, Taha demanded that all future negotiations with the Joint List and any concessions be preapproved by Ra’am.

“If Naftali Bennett doesn’t change his direction, there won’t be a coalition,” a source in Ra’am said.

Ra’am also demanded an interministerial committee on Arab issues, a task force on house demolitions and better representation for Ra’am on Knesset committees. In an effort to satisfy Ra’am, the cabinet approved its request to move the National Authority on the Bedouin Population to the Welfare and Social Services Ministry, which was already agreed upon in the coalition agreement.

The opposition mocked Bennett for giving in to Ra’am’s demands.

“In order to survive as prime minister with only six mandates, Bennett once again surrendered to Mansour Abbas and sold out the Negev to him,” the Likud said in a tweet retweeted by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It will be interesting to see what else will be extorted out of him to stay in power.”

Religious Zionist Party MK Itamar Ben-Gvir accused Bennett of “moral bankruptcy and giving a prize to terrorism.”