The Islamist Ra'am party has agreed to support a bill to subsidize academic scholarships for IDF soldiers.
The bill will fund scholarships for combat soldiers, lone soldiers – those who do not have family in Israel – and soldiers of lower socioeconomic status.
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Next week, it will be brought to a vote in the Knesset plenum by Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
The Likud party, headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was debating whether to support the bill or not. If it passes it would be considered a victory for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's coalition, something the opposition wants to avoid.
Ra'am MKs set to vote against the bill have now agreed to support it, as stated, to ensure that it passes, according to a Channel 12 News report on Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, Gantz called on Netanyahu and all opposition members to "put politics aside and support the proposal."
"Do not harm Israel's soldiers in the name of politics," Gantz said on Twitter.
Bennett noted that he "understands why [Joint Arab List chairman MK]Ayman Odeh opposes the law."
"But why Netanyahu joined him against the law is difficult to understand," he continued.
The premier echoed Gantz's statement, calling on Netanyahu to "come to his senses."
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The Likud party responded on Twitter saying: "Bennett's government of deception and weakness, which depends on its survival on Israel's haters from the Ra'am and the Joint List, is incapable of passing any Zionist law. Instead of whining, Bennett should resign."
"The Likud will support the financing of a 100% scholarship for soldiers, at the expense of the NIS 50 billion ($15 billion) that Bennett gave to [Ra'am chairman MK] Mansour Abbas," the statement said.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
