On Sunday, the Islamist party Raam decided to temporarily suspend its membership in both the Knesset and the coalition amid growing pressure following clashes between Palestinians and Temple Mount police.
At this stage, the decision is largely declarative, as parliament is on pause, although opposition sources say they see it as an additional opportunity to weaken the coalition, encourage desertions and overthrow the government.
According to sources quoted in the Jewish media on Sunday, the measure – which will last two weeks and is coordinated with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid – is intended to ease pressure on the party and prevent a permanent rift with the government.
Raam has condemned Israeli security forces for violence in a holy site in Jerusalem, and an Islamist party lawmaker has threatened to leave the coalition. However, Raam boss Mansour Abbas downplayed such a prospect and repeatedly called for calm.
The decision to temporarily freeze was made during a Sunday meeting of the Shura council of the Southern Islamic Movement – Raam’s umbrella organization – to tackle violence at the holy site in Jerusalem.
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The council can make decisions regarding the party and also has the right to order members of the Knesset to withdraw from the coalition.
Founded in the 1980s, the Islamic Movement has been in the spotlight over the past year since Raam, a four-seat member of the Knesset, joined the coalition government, the first Arab party to do so in decades.
Senior officials of the Islamic movement gather in Kfar Qasim on Saturday, January 22, 2022, to elect a new leadership. (Courtesy of: Islamic Movement)
The movement is informally divided between its more radical “northern” branch and the “southern” leadership, which is considered more moderate. Israel bans northern branch over alleged terrorist links in 2015
Unlike some of his predecessors, Abbas has taken a pragmatic approach.
Earlier Sunday, a senior religious figure in the Southern Islamic Movement called on Raam to stop the coalition because of the clashes.
Sources said that as tensions around the Temple Mount have risen as the Knesset is in the midst of its spring break, Raam officials hope that by the time parliament meets again on May 9, the situation will calm down.
Israeli border police patrol near the Lion Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City as Palestinians wait to enter the Temple Mount complex on April 17, 2022 (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)
However, some have suggested that the opposition will use the freeze on Raam’s membership to step up efforts to overthrow the government.
Walid Taha, Chairman of the Knesset Committee on the Interior and Environment, chaired a meeting of the Knesset Committee, Jerusalem, 15 November 2021 (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
And Raam MP Walid Taha said shortly before the decision was announced that the coalition was “obviously” on the verge of disintegration. “We thought this government would behave differently,” he said, citing what he called “provocative” Jewish visits to the Temple Mount as the cause of the latest violence. The government, he accused, “allowed several hundred fascists” to create problems.
The current government has been on the verge of collapse in recent days after Ben Yatina, a member of Benjamin’s Yamina party, left the coalition, causing it to lose its weak majority. The 120-member Knesset is already at a standstill, with the coalition and the opposition holding 60 seats each.
Some have suggested that the Joint Opposition List, a majority Arab party separated from Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition bloc, could help the coalition pass some votes and prevent it from falling in a no-confidence vote. The party itself has issued conflicting reports on the issue.
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