According to Ra’am MK Walid Taha, “the government has internalized the new rules of the game” in dealing with Israel’s Arab society.
The Islamist Ra’am (United Arab List) party announced Sunday evening that following negotiations with the government, it has received permission for construction in unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev in southern Israel, Hebrew news sites reported.
According to agreement, it will be possible to build an additional housing unit or expand to 70 square meters without a demolition order or fine.
“This is an important government decision regarding the unrecognized villages in the Negev,” Ra’am stated, saying it’s “like oxygen for Arab families in the villages.”
It will now be possible for young couples to build a home without fear of demolition or of breaking the law, the party said.
The new policy will also prohibit the demolition of existing additions to buildings that were built illegally.
Furthermore, the acting director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office will promote the allocation of millions of shekels in additional funding for the Jisr az-Zarqa Regional Council in northern Israel within the framework of negotiations to keep the Islamist Ra’am Party in the coalition, JNS reported Monday.
Ra’am Party head Mansour Abbas demanded the additional funding during talks with director-general Naama Schulz last week, according to the report.
Last week, MK Walid Taha said that “in the coming days,” the “successes achieved “by the party in talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, during which Ra’am set conditions for remaining in the coalition, will be revealed.
On Wednesday, Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas announced his decision to remain in the coalition, ending the immediate danger of the government falling. Abbas told a Knesset news conference that the decision was made in the interests of the Arab community.
The Bennett-Lapid coalition appears on the verge of collapse, as it now holds 60 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. Reports indicate that a number of members of Bennett’s Yamina party are considering bolting.
According to Taha, “the government has internalized the new rules of the game” in dealing with Israel’s Arab society.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party slammed the agreement.
“In order to maintain his seat, [Prime Minister Naftali] Bennett continues to sell the liquidation of the state to the Shura Council. The significance of the decision to allow and legalize illegal construction is the delivery of the Negev,” the party said in a statement.
This is sickening to see. Oslo was bad enough. But if stuck with Oslo, at least stick to it and demand that it be enforced: no Arab building in Area C, and the end the Jew hate in Arab schools.
And here we are…The new Arab bribe, more Negev land paid to support a govt, too broken to act and too desperate to disperse, even while Jews are murdered in the streets of Israel for simply being a Jew living in the Jewish State. As these criminal offenses are deemed as legitimate acts, the nation is being bartered off, one slice at a time, only this most recent slice is a self propelling process where the newly created Arab Negev will be expanded in 70 square meter lots. Perhaps they will name it Bennettstan in honor of the rogue who fashioned his hold on power or his capture in some manipulation as being a greater value than the Jewish Heritage lands. There is no term that comes to mind to describe the villainy betrayed by this PM and his govt. How could they do this…how could they permit this to come to pass?
As the rain goes drip drip drip and the Negev goes slip slip slip…Someday they will bolt, until that day, the daily price of their dereliction of responsibility to the state and the public good comes at a steeper and steeper cost.