Israel is on the brink of new elections, as the deadline for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build a coalition looms at midnight today, and as a Knesset dissolution bill is being voted on today.
64 Knesset Members (MKs) voted for the first reading of the Likud-drafted motion to dissolve the Knesset on Monday, with 44 voting against and one abstaining. A second and third reading of the bill is taking place in the Knesset today.
If Netanyahu does not form a government by midnight, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin can ask another party leader to try. If the Knesset votes to dissolve itself before then, new elections will take place, possibly on 17 September.
The coalition-building crisis has prevented Prime Minister Netanyahu from forming new 65-seat majority government with the centre-right Kulanu, the far-right United Right, two ultra-Orthodox parties – Shas and United Torah Judaism, and the centre-right Yisrael Beitenu.
Netanyahu has received a two-week extension to the original 28-day deadline granted by President Rivlin.
At the heart of the paralysis is the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students in the army, which has created tensions between the ultra-Orthodox parties and the secular Yisrael Beytenu (led by Avigdor Lieberman), both of which are required by Netanyahu to form a coalition.
The Likud and Kulanu parties have agreed to run on a joint list if a September election is approved by the Knesset today.
Concern has been expressed about the potential ramifications of Israel holding two elections at such a short interval. Labor Knesset Member Shelly Yacimovich wrote in an official letter to Israeli President Rivlin that holding a snap election is “an unprecedented event in Israel’s history, subjecting the country to chaos and massive expenses while paralysing its institutions”. The main opposition Blue and White party has branded the bill as a ‘theft of the public’s time’.
There is also serious doubt as to whether, even if the Knesset remained intact, there would be any party realistically able to secure the 61-seat majority needed to prevent fresh elections.
On April 9th 2019, elections in Israel ended with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the centrist Blue and White party led by Benny Gantz each winning 35 seats. However, Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc had clear majority.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s fight to organise a coalition falls amidst the corruption allegations made against him by the Attorney General and the possibility of his indictment. Mr Netanyahu has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and alleged that the legal investigations against him are a “witch hunt” involving the left, the media and the police relentlessly pressuring a “weak” Attorney General.
