Because the governing coalition could not be stabilized, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett resigned. A new parliament is expected to be elected in the autumn. It would be the fifth election in three and a half years.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (right) will resign. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is to take over his post as a deputy.
(dpa) Israel’s eight-party government plans to dissolve parliament and hold new elections, a spokesman for the prime minister has confirmed. The coalition intends to present a corresponding draft law next week. After the dissolution of the Knesset and until a new government is sworn in, the current foreign minister, Jair Lapid, is to take over the office of prime minister. So far, Naftali Bennett is on the post. Both wanted to give a press conference in the evening.
According to the media, the elections could take place at the end of October. Bennett’s coalition government has been in office for a year and has been wobbling 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.
The opposition around former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for Bennett’s resignation.