Monday, June 6, while the Diaspora still observes the Shavuot holiday, the Knesset is slated to vote on legislation which prevents stripping the Israelis residing in Judea and Samaria of the rights and
benefits held by Israeli residents.
This is not new legislation. The measure has been approved by the Knesset every five years since 1967.
But this time the opposition to the current ruling coalition - an opposition which includes the Likud and other parties which have many supporters who will be disenfranchised if this legislation isn't passed in the coming weeks - is planning to unanimously oppose the bill.
To be clear, the ruling coalition has a pile of laws it wants to pass, so there are more than enough other opportunities to paralyze the ruling coalition without opposing this.
But at this stage of the game it would appear that Binyamin Netanyahu has so masterfully organized his campaign that the overwhelming majority of his audience will literally cheer for him even if the consequences of the move is what Israelis call "burning the clubhouse down."
To be clear: that doesn't mean Netanyahu has the Knesset votes to come to power if the ruling coalition falls apart, nor does it mean that if we find ourselves plunged into elections that he will be able to form a coalition after the votes are counted. It just means that many of the people hurt the most if the legislation is blocked won't blame him for their fate [because they see this as an opportunity to bring down a left dominated coalition on an issue that can prove that an Arab party cannot be part of a Zionist government]..
Another group of politicians will most certainly be hurt if they play a role in killing the legislation: Ra'am and basically any Arab party for the foreseeable future.
The Israeli street may not have much of a stomach for a lot of the rhetoric of Ra'am, but the operative demands Ra'am has made to date focused on serving the practical - [that is, obtaining government budget allocations to fill the perceived] needs of its constituents.
The Monday vote serves as crucial test of the veracity of this professed policy.
If Ra'am fails to vote with the coalition this will be seen as proof that an Arab party cannot be relied upon to serve within a ruling coalition.
And that would be a tragedy for all of us.
Dr. Aaron Lernerand his late father Dr. Joseph Lerner founded the Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) government accredited news organization in 1992,which provides an ongoing analysis of developments in Arab-Israeli relations.