Threats Motivate New Israeli Government to Act

Israel’s new coalition government has been spurred into action in response to a threat by the lone coalition party comprising Arab Israelis to jam up the legislative process if the agenda it was promised is not acted upon. On Sunday, the Ra’am-United Arab List party threatened to exclude itself from parliamentary votes and not attend committee meetings until it is clear that the agenda set for the Arab Israeli sector is being met. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reacted to the threat and with telephonic voting succeeded in transferring responsibility for certain government entities that deal with those issues to the Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services Ministry. The actions demanded will benefit Israel’s Bedouin community. The matters at hand were said to have been items on the list of agreements between Ra’am and the Bennett government.