T. Belman. The agreement with Ra’am is far less onerous than originally reported. The deal with Lieberman was as expected.
Ra’am will be the first Arab party in the governing coalition since the Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers in Yitzhak Rabin’s first term as prime minister.
By GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST JUNE 11, 2021 10:33
YESH ATID leader Yair Lapid meets with the head of Ra’am, Mansour Abbas.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid signed a historic agreement with the Ra’am (United Arab List) Party Friday morning.
Ra’am will be the first Arab party in the governing coalition since the Arab List for Bedouin and Villagers in Yitzhak Rabin’s first term as prime minister in 1974-1977.
The deal gives Ra’am a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office that will deal with Arab affairs and the chairmanship of the Knesset interior committee and committee on Arab society.
The new government will invest 2.5 billion NIS over five years in fighting crime in the Arab sector. It will also invest 20 billions NIS for transportation in the Arab sector by 2030. Additionally, another 100 million NIS will be allocated over 5 years for infrastructure projects in Arab communities. Three unrecognized Bedouin villages, Abda, Rahma, Hisham-Zan will be recognized and developed.
An agreement was also reached overnight with the Yisrael Beytenu party. The agreement calls for term limits for prime minister of two terms of 8 years, public transportation on Shabbat, and implementing the Western Wall agreement that was reached in 2016 and canceled in 2017 due to pressure from United Torah Judaism.
Yisrael Beytenu will be given the Finance Ministry for its leader Avigdor Lieberman, another minister in the Finance Ministry, a minister of agriculture who will also control the Negev and Galilee development portfolio, and the chairmanship of the Knesset finance committee and the new committee monitoring the progress of national projects.
A deal was reached on Thursday with Meretz. Agreements must be reached by the 4pm deadline with Yamina, Labor, New Hope, Blue and White.
@Bear Klein
Ok, Bear, agree to disagree, but I don’t mean to suggest such political libels are proper or attractive because they are neither, just very routine. The attacks against Bennett were both unkind and unjust, but not unexpected, by me at least. Politicians and politics, well, they aren’t meant for those without a thick skin.
@Peloni, I must laugh as here is the definition of
We can agree to disagree, you accept the UTJ’s based on what you commented on. I do not clearly. I want them to aspire to be better humans and stop their destructive behavior which goes beyond words at times, in their objection to how Israeli society as a whole lives including the conscription to the IDF of the vast majority of males when they get to be 18.
@Bear Klein
I am not rationalizing the attack, just stating the obvious, namely that they would use any stone to preserve what they see as vital to their continued lifestyle, especially, given the likelihood that such measures as Bennett’s gov’t has proposed are certain to succeed. Personal attacks are the fodder of political battles. I would personally prefer that the parties discuss such matters of intense importance in a considered manner, where careful thought might lead to collective resolutions without the need of such unpleasant attacks. But from the age of the Greeks til today, political debate prefers to play to the more base level of retort when vital measures are in play. So, as I often say, politics is an ugly business and such low tactics do seem to afford some traction to political campaigns.
@Peloni rationalizing the UTJ attacks on Bennett is not acceptable and was not even to the Shas’s Deri. Bennett is an Orthodox Jew and what was the comment he should take off his kippa as he is reform.
As Deri said we are all Jews. UTJ feels so free to judge others. By the way Bennett and his party will be the ONLY ones in the coalition helping the Haredi be able to keep their lifestyle. The changes Bennett will allow are just the one’s like the equilatarian prayer area of the Kotel agreement of the past now enacted. This will not change their lifestyle but allow a slight bit more freedom of religion for other Jews in Israel. Who knows maybe Jews in Israel will become free to practice Judaism as they see fit and not per the Rabinate dictates.
@Bear Klein
Yes Bear, everything you say is true. If the Haredi would drop their objections to the revolutionary upheaval to their traditional lifestyle, “imposing their 18th century living standards on the rest of Israel” as you put it, they could enjoy a great benefit from joining the rest of society. But, such revolutionary changes are rarely accepted without a great resistance. They have shown this over the years and a surprising ability to fuel this resistance towards preserving their traditions.
But when you consider how much turmoil Lieberman created in the last two years , costing Israel the use of a great champion in the US to its full potential in that time, something comes to mind. I find it striking that Lieberman would resist the expense and sacrifice to the Heredi while tolerating a great settlement with the local Brotherhood representative and his movement with a great financial prize and, of course, the gift of acceptance of the illegal Bedouin villages. It is not even these details that allow for the greatest surprise in all of this, though they were surprise enough, but politics pays as the saying goes. Just observing his tolerance for the Brotherhood compared to the vile mode of attack he placed upon the Heredi. This comparison prompted my mention of it.
And the political attacks that the Heredi placed upon Bennett are in line with the attacks they would prefer against anyone forcing what must be fairly accepted as a revolutionary attack upon their culture, from their perspective, regardless of any benefit to them or the state resulting from such a reform.
@Peloni, the UTJ and Shas have been invited into the new government. So far in particular the heads of the UTJ have nothing short of vile, disgusting and insulting towards Bennett. So they could change the political situation and their own situation by joining the Coalition.
The Haredi parties, could decide to become Zionists and send 90% of their sons to the IDF and reserve Torah study for the top 10% after age 18. They would all be better off. They could allow half of the 90% to do National Service in lieu of the IDF. They could ask not be forced to have their schools to have Math, Science, English and Computer Science as core curriculum so their children would have a better chance of successful employment and quit living off the dole.
Then Lieberman and them would be closer to being on the same page. They also could try quit imposing their 18th century living standards on the rest of Israel on the rest of Israel, then Lieberman and them would be on the same page.
It is striking that Lieberman so readily accepted the role of Musim Brotherhhood in the gov’t after so many times stating emphatically how he would no longer sit in a gov’t with the Haredi parties. Of course, it is true that the Brotherhood is not a Haredi party, so there is that.