In the past, Israeli forces have responded to Gaza rocket fire with airstrikes. Clashes in Jerusalem contributed to an 11-day deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas last year.

Meanwhile, the Israeli ruling coalition faced a potential mutiny from an independent Arab party, which warned it would quit the government if violence around the Al Aqsa mosque continues. The Islamist Ra’am party suspended its membership in the coalition to protest the government’s handling of the clashes at the Al Aqsa mosque compound and what they say are Israeli government polices that have degraded Muslim control over the holy site in favor of Jews….

If Ra’am, or even one of its members, quits the coalition, it would reduce the government to a minority, and leave it vulnerable to a vote to dissolve the Israeli parliament that could send the country to a fifth election in a little over three years.

The Bennett government already lost its majority in the 120-member parliament, or Knesset, earlier this month after a right-wing lawmaker quit the coalition over disagreements about the country’s Jewish character, leaving it with 60 lawmakers.

Ra’am’s warning to pull out its four lawmakers highlights how debates over religion and state tear at the seams of the highly diverse Bennett government, which came to power in June last year after a mix of left-wing, centrist and right-wing parties, including for the first time an independent Arab party, united in their opposition to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The parties’ deep ideological differences have created an unwieldy alliance. Members have clashed over several issues, including policies related to West Bank settlements and Palestinians….

Political polls in Israel consistently show that another election would bring Israel to another deadlock, with neither Mr. Netanyahu nor those who oppose him easily able to form another government. This is one reason, Prof. Diskin said, that the Bennett government might survive the current tumult as those in the coalition don’t have much to gain from new elections….

Tensions have mounted after a series of terrorist attacks that have killed 14 people in different parts of Israel since late March. After the recent attacks, Israel’s military carried out several operations in the West Bank, arresting suspects believed to be connected to the violence or planning other assaults. This has led to clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the West Bank, with Israeli forces killing at least six Palestinians since last Thursday, according to Palestinian medical officials. A total of at least 44 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank this year….

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(Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal. Photo Credit: Getty Images)