Report: Ra’am Threatens to Halt Cooperation With Shaked

Channel 12 reported on Motzoei Shabbos that the Ra’am Party decided to boycott Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, due to disputes over several legislative issues pertaining to her ministry. The main dispute is over Ra’am faction chairman Waleed Taha’s electricity bill, which would allow thousands of illegally built Arab homes to be hooked up to the national electricity grid.

According to the report, Ra’am has asked to work with someone else in the government instead of Shaked.

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas faced criticism inside his party over the weekend for his consistent conciliatory approach. He especially angered Ra’am party officials when he defended Jewish settlers and asked not to make generalities about them, just like any other sector.

Shaked will face another challenge on Sunday, when a controversial immigration bill proposed by Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rothman will come to a vote in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. He also intends to bring it to a vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday.