Arab lawmakers from the Coalition and Opposition have launched negotiations aimed at forming a unified ticket if new elections are called, according to a report Tuesday afternoon.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported Tuesday that senior officials from the United Arab List (Ra’am), a Coalition partner, and the Joint Arab List, an Opposition faction, met recently to discuss the possibility of restoring their electoral alliance, bringing the UAL back onto the Joint Arab List ticket.
The report claimed that senior UAL officials and members of the party’s shura council – the religious steering committee which provides spiritual guidance for the Southern Islamic Movement and the UAL party – took part in the meetings, along with the chiefs of the three factions which currently make up the Joint Arab List.
Multiple meetings between the two sides have been held over the past forty-eight hours, the report said, signaling UAL’s willingness to topple the current government – as well as concerns the faction could be left out of the next Knesset.
The United Arab List narrowly cleared the 3.25% electoral threshold in last year’s election, winning just four seats, making it the smallest faction in the Knesset.
A new poll published Monday found that if new elections were held today, the UAL would fail to cross the electoral threshold, leaving it out of the next Knesset.
The party recently suspended its cooperation with the Bennett government, citing the use of police officers to quell Arab rioting on the Temple Mount – but fell short of withdrawing from the Coalition, a move which would likely have toppled the government.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Bennett denied claims his government had agreed to a Jordanian demand that the Waqf - the Islamic trust which administers the Temple Mount - be allowed to expand the number of officers it maintains at the holy site.
The UAL had listed Israel's compliance with the Jordanian demand as a condition for the party's return to the Coalition.