Israeli government quakes as Al Jazeera journalist shot, Al-Aqsa heats further
The worsening crisis around the Temple Mount and the killing of an Al Jazeera journalist in Jenin this morning have the shaky Israeli coalition even more fragile.
Israeli's Ra’am Party assured the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett today that it is going to stay in the coalition for the time being. Ra’am had suspended its coalition partnership some three weeks ago over tensions on the Temple Mount, also known as the Al-Aqsa compound. Addressing the press, Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said this afternoon that the party has decided to continue its political partnership with the government for the benefit of Arab citizens of Israel. The decision thwarts efforts by the opposition to topple the government through a no-confidence vote in the Knesset.
While Ra’am's decision has bailed out the government for the short term, it remains very vulnerable. On May 9, the Joint List opposition party's members held up the government by either abstaining or voting against two no-confidence motion, but this breather could be short lived. At any moment, another coalition member, be it from Bennett’s Yamina party or from Ra’am, could decide to cross the lines and join the opposition.
The government’s vulnerability is complicated, but it all comes down to the difficult coexistence between Bennett’s right-wing pro-settler Yamina and the Muslim Ra’am. Tensions over the Temple Mount in the last few weeks and the killing this morning of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh in a West Bank refugee camp while covering an IDF raid have deepened the divide.
The fate of Bennett’s government now largely depends on the Shura Council, which is the supreme religious leadership of Israel’s Islamist movement and of its Knesset representation Ra’am.
