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The future of Israel’s government is in doubt after a member resigns, leaving the country’s parliament with a minority for the first time. The coalition’s Arab member resigned, claiming she couldn’t stand the leaders’ “right-wing positions” toward her community.
As a result of the unexpected move, the coalition now has only 59 seats out of 120.
For a little more than a year, Israel’s most diverse coalition has been in office.
It brought together eight parties from across the political spectrum, some with considerable ideological disagreements, under the leadership of nationalist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
For the first time since the state’s founding in 1948, an independent Arab party was involved in the government.
The Arab minority in Israel makes up around 20% of the population, and despite having equal legal rights, they frequently complain of discrimination.
“Again and again, the heads of the coalition have chosen hawkish, inflexible, and right-wing views regarding core matters of paramount importance for Arab society,” Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi of the left-wing Meretz party wrote in a letter announcing her withdrawal.
She said recent events had swayed her, such as the funeral in Jerusalem of Al Jazeera reporter Sherine Abu Aqla, who was killed in the occupied West Bank last week while reporting on an Israeli operation in which troops engaged Palestinian militants in fire fighting.
Last Friday, Israeli police assaulted and kicked mourners carrying Abu Aqla’s coffin aloft, nearly causing it to collapse to the ground. After being “exposed to violence by rioters,” police stated they took action.
Ms Zoabi added, “I cannot continue to support a coalition that harasses my people in this shameful manner.”
Her departure puts the coalition in a perilous position. The government will now find it more difficult to function, making it vulnerable to a no-confidence vote.
Ms Zoabi is the second member of the coalition to leave in recent weeks, following the resignation of a member of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s own right-wing Yamina party, who claimed the coalition was “harming… the Jewish identity” of the country.
Following a succession of indecisive elections, the alliance was created in order to bring together enough parties to topple long-term Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Since then, Mr Netanyahu has been the leader of the opposition and has promised to return to power.