MK Walid Taha of Ra'am today (Tuesday) spoke out strongly against the Family Reunification Law and said his faction would oppose it in the plenum despite coalition discipline. The law prevents Palestinian Arabs who marry Israelis from automatically receiving Israeli citizenship.
"The Family Reunification Law is a racist and anti-democratic law, which we can in no way and in no way pass with the votes of Ra'am's MKs," Taha wrote on Twitter, "I will continue to oppose the passage of the law from the Arrangements Committee to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and Ra'am will vote against the law in the plenum."
According to a report by Channel 12 News, Taha said in a closed meeting the Ra'am party that "as far as I am concerned, the coalition can disintegrate."
Earlier, it was reported that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas had reached a compromise by which Ra'am would not oppose the extension of the law.
Prime Minister Bennett met Monday night with Ministers Ayelet Shaked and Ze'ev Elkin and with Abbas in an attempt to reach a compromise that will allow the approval of the extension of the Family Reunification Law.
During the meeting, Abbas agreed that the UAL will not vote against the law’s extension, enabling it to narrowly pass in the Knesset, Kan reported Tuesday morning.
In exchange, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked agreed to make a public statement committing the government to improving the ‘humanitarian conditions’ in Israel’s Arab sector.