Less than a week has passed since the new government was sworn into office and already ideological disputes have arisen between members of this rag-tag coalition, with one of its members confirming some coalition members are knowingly acting to harm the State of Israel's security and destroying its Jewish character.
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In a post to Twitter, Interior Minister and Yamina member Ayelet Shaked wrote: "I will bring the citizenship law to a vote next week. I cannot imagine the opposition would harm state security in the name of political games. I am confident they will display the necessary maturity and support the law. I have no doubt the Opposition Leader [Benjamin Netanyahu] will keep his word that on matters of Israel's security "there is no opposition and no coalition, on this matter, we are on one front."
Shaked said a vote against the law, which would bar Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens from receiving citizenship, would "harm state security and the character of the State of Israel. So although she knows coalition members from the Islamist Ra'am party and possibly Meretz oppose the legislation, she doesn't mind sitting in a coalition government with them.
Refusing to take a good look in the mirror, Shaked is instead trying to hold the opposition - which is weighing voting against the bill for tactical reasons - responsible for the vote. Unlike members of the opposition, opponents of the legislation within the coalition do no oppose it for tactical reasons. They are acting out of ideology and a genuine desire to cancel the law that prevents thousands of Palestinians from entering Israel through marriages to Arab Israelis. Shaked knows this is their objective as well.
Should the opposition set political considerations aside to support a law of national and security importance? That is an interesting and important question that demands serious deliberation. One thing, however, is for certain: Shaked's willing collaboration with those she believes pose a danger to the State of Israel is a stain on both her, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's, and all the coalition members' characters.
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