Ibrahim Sarsour, a former leader of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement who is affiliated with the Ra’am party, no longer sees any point in Ra’am staying in the coalition.
"If Prime Minister Bennett thinks he can (use) Ra’am to implement his right-wing political agenda that hurts everything that is Arab and Palestinian, and against our holy places, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he's wrong," tweeted Sarsour.
He stressed that "Ra’am will not be a tool for the government to pass its plans in exchange for budgets, whatever they may be."
"Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are a red line. The Israeli government's violation of the sanctity of the mosque requires action to send it to political hell," stated Sarsour.
"It is true that we will not be able to liberate Jerusalem from the occupation," he wrote, "but - in principle - Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are more important to us than all the billions of Israelis and their budgets!"
Sarsour blamed Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for the danger of the collapse of his government, writing, "The Prime Minister of Israel (Bennett) is working to strengthen his position by fully adopting the policies of the far right at the expense of the beliefs of some of his partners. Apparently, this behavior was not enough for MKs from his party (Yamina), which threatens the stability and continuity of the government that he himself heads. Interesting and strange!"
Earlier on Sunday, the Islamic council, which provides spiritual leadership for the southern branch of the Islamic Movement and for Ra’am, instructed the party to halt all cooperation with the Bennett government, citing law enforcement efforts against Arab rioters on the Temple Mount.
At the urging of party chief MK Mansour Abbas, the council did not insist on Ra’am’s immediate departure from the coalition, but instead instructed the faction to cease all cooperation with the government for the time being.
The meeting was called amid heavy pressure on the party from within the Islamic Movement to bolt the government over the use of police forces to break up Arab rioting on the Temple Mount, including the insertion of Border Police officers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, after hundreds of rioters barricaded themselves inside the building last Friday.