GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli Cabinet has a plan to fight polygamy among Arab-Israelis. The anti-polygamy plan, approved Jan. 29, calls for stricter enforcement of Article 176 of the 1977 Israeli Penal Code, which prohibits polygamy and makes it punishable with five years in prison.

Judicial and law enforcement authorities are urged to report any suspected cases of polygamy. The plan also calls for stricter accountability and punishments for government employees who fail to report such cases as they encounter them. Religious courts will also be subject to these new regulations. According to the plan, men with multiple wives may face legal prosecution or lose welfare allocations.

Many analysts believe that this step aims to fight Arab demographic growth inside Israel, where Arab-Israelis have reached 1.5 million people, representing 22% of the total population of Israel, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics at the end of 2016.

Naila Awad, director of the Association of Women Against Violence, told Al-Monitor, “The anti-polygamy law was enacted in the 1970s but there is no systematic way to monitor its implementation, [and that] the Islamic Sharia, espoused by the majority of Arabs [in Israel], allows polygamy.”