Jamal Zahalka, a former Knesset member on behalf of the Joint List and chairman of the Balad party, on Friday called on MK Mansour Abbas, chairman of the Ra’am party, to immediately resign from the coalition amid the violent riots on the Temple Mount.
In a Facebook post titled "Mansour, Resign!" Zahalka wrote, "The least that Mansour Abbas can do, in order to return to his people, is to resign from government which breaks in to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and join the defenders of Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds and (defend) the right of the people fighting in Palestine."
Zahalka claimed that Israel has caused a "dangerous escalation" that "requires a response from the Palestinian people wherever they are (presumably also from Israeli Arabs) and this will take place for certain."
According to Zahalka, "Regarding the Arabs who promote normalization with Israel, their Arab and Muslim identities are dead and they have become Zionists and there is no hope or request from them."
Earlier on Friday, MK Abbas blasted the Israel Police and threatened to bolt the government over the efforts to break up violent Arab riots on the Temple Mount.
Speaking with Radio A-Shams, Abbas said that the police operation to disperse rioters on the Temple Mount and arrest rock throwers violated the sanctity of the Al Aqsa Mosque – a red line for his party, which is affiliated with the Islamic Movement.
“I send the message to every level of state officials and the police: Continuing this attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a red line for us – also for the stability of the coalition. With this there are no political considerations.”
MK Mazen Ghanaim wrote to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that if police operations in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque continue, he will resign from the coalition, giving the opposition an absolute majority in the Knesset.
"If the operations by security forces in the Al-Aqsa Mosque are not halted, I see myself outside of the coalition. A government which behaves this way in the holy walls of the mosque has no right to exist. I call on you to act immediately to calm things down."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat and Passover in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)