The United Arab List (Ra’am) has issued a list of demands to the government for its support in passing the state budget, according to a report by Panet . Israel’s narrow coalition government must pass a spending plan by November or face immediate dissolution and snap elections. With a bare majority in the Knesset, the government must win the support of the UAL for the budget to ensure the bill’s passage. But in recent weeks, UAL members have threatened to block the budget’s passage in the Knesset plenum if an agreement is not reached regarding spending for the Arab sector. According to Thursday’s report in Panet , UAL chief Mansour Abbas is also demanding the government back a number of legislative changes, as well as a bailout for an Israeli-Arab city swamped with massive debts. The demands reportedly include amending Israel’s family unification law, which has, since the Second Intifada, strictly limited the number of residents of the Palestinian Authority and Gaza Strip from gaining residency in Israel. Furthermore, Abbas is reportedly demanding changes to the ‘Kaminitz Law’, which eased the procedural limitations on the demolition of illegal buildings and increased the punishment for unauthorized construction. Finally, the report claimed that Abbas has called on the government to cover the debts of Taibeh, an Israeli-Arab city in central Israel which has accumulated some 60 million shekels ($18.6 million) in debts.
