Ra’am mulls coalition membership freeze amid Temple Mount tensions
The Islamist Ra’am party is reportedly considering a temporary freeze of its membership in the coalition amid mounting pressure in the wake of clashes between Palestinians and police on the Temple Mount.
According to sources quoted in Hebrew media Sunday, the measure — which will last for two weeks and is coordinated with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid — is aimed to ease the pressure on the party, as well as prevent a permanent break with the government.
Ra’am denounced Israeli security forces over the violence at the Jerusalem holy site, and one of the Islamist party’s lawmakers has threatened to quit the coalition. Ra’am chief Mansour Abbas, however, has downplayed such a prospect and issued repeated calls for calm.
The reported move comes as the Shura council of the Southern Islamic Movement — Ra’am’s umbrella organization — was set to meet later on Sunday over the violence at the Jerusalem holy site.
The council may make decisions regarding the party and is also given the authority to order Knesset members to resign from the coalition.
Founded in the 1980s, the Islamic Movement has been thrust into the spotlight over the past year after Ra’am joined the coalition government, the first Arab party to do so in decades.
The movement is informally divided between its more radical “northern” branch and the “southern” leadership, which is considered more moderate. Israel banned the northern branch for alleged terror ties in 2015.
In contrast to some of his firebrand predecessors, Abbas has adopted a pragmatic approach.
Earlier on Sunday, a senior religious figure in the Southern Islamic Movement called on Ra’am to bolt the coalition over the clashes.
The sources said that since the tensions surrounding the Temple Mount have risen as the Knesset is in the midst of its spring recesses, Ra’am officials are hoping that by the time parliament will reconvene, the situation will calm down.
However, some suggested that the opposition will use the freeze in membership to topple the government.
The current Israeli government has been brought to the brink of collapse in recent days after a member of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party quit the coalition, causing it to lose its razor-thin majority. The 120-member Knesset is now deadlocked, with both the coalition and opposition holding 60 seats apiece.
Some have suggested that the opposition’s Joint List, a majority-Arab party that is separate from Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition bloc, could help the coalition pass some votes and prevent its fall in a no-confidence vote. The party itself has issued conflicting messages on the matter.