Government wants to dissolve Knesset
Israel is heading for new elections
06/20/2022, 7:47 p.m
New elections again: A year after eight parties formed a coalition, Israel’s government is once again on the verge of collapse – and the country is facing its fifth election in three years.
Israel’s government wants to dissolve parliament and thus pave the way for new elections. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at a press conference that the coalition wants the Knesset to vote on the project next week. Until a new government is sworn in, the current foreign minister, Jair Lapid, is to take over the office of prime minister.
According to media reports, the election could take place at the end of October – it would be the fifth in three and a half years. Bennett cited the failure of a parliamentary vote on the continued application of Israeli law to Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories as the main reason for the decision. The eight-party coalition was unable to secure a majority for the vote.
Bennett’s government alliance has been shaky for a long time. In April, the multi-party coalition lost its razor-thin majority of 61 out of 120 seats because an MP left the alliance. A week ago, another member of Bennett’s far-right Jamina party announced his departure from the coalition. That would put Bennett’s coalition in a minority of 59 to 61 seats in the Knesset. The opposition around ex-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Bennett’s resignation.
The coalition has been in office since June 13 last year. At that time, a permanent political crisis in Israel came to an end with four elections within two years. The alliance was supported by parties from the right to the left – including, for the first time, an Arab party. In this way, Bennett succeeded in replacing Netanyahu as prime minister after more than a decade. At the time, many doubted that the government could last longer, also because of the wafer-thin majority in parliament.