A decision taken by Israeli MPs will open the doors to the fifth election in the Jewish State in just four years.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted to dissolve itself on Thursday, meaning the Jewish state will hold its fifth election since 2019 later this year.
The 92-0 vote ended the premiership of Naftali Bennett, which became one of the shortest in the country’s history. On June 13, 2021, he was sworn into office as the prime minister.
Yair Lepid, the foreign minister and alternative prime minister will replace Bennett as prime minister at midnight. After the vote, Bennett and his two partners in the ruling coalition symbolically changed their Knesset seats.
Israel has chosen November 1 as the date for its new legislative election.
Bennett had already announced on Wednesday that he wasn’t going to run for re-election, saying it was “time to step back a little”He and “look at things from the outside.”
Although the lawmakers chose to dissolve last week, it took both the coalition and opposition some time to reach an agreement on the date and fate of key legislation.
Eventually, they couldn’t find common ground on the subject of a subway system for Tel Aviv and another draft bill, which is crucial for advancing Israel on its way to obtaining visa-free travel to the US.
The coalition of eight political parties of various views, including the pro-Palestinian United Arab List (UAL or Ra’am), joined forces last year to depose long-time right-wing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They found that working effectively together in a government was difficult. Bennett and Lapid also announced last week plans to disband the cabinet.
This decision was made after the Knesset failed to pass an early June bill to extend legal rights for settlers living in the occupied West Bank another five years. Israel is now at high risk for a new legal mess as two members of the coalition refused to support the bill that would expedite dissolution.
With the dissolution of Parliament, Israeli legal rights will now be extended automatically for an additional six months to all settlers.
The coalition government will continue its work until the election. According to polls, Netanyahu is expected to be elected prime minister.
Radio 103 FM’s Tuesday survey suggested that Netanyahu and his party would be elected to 59 of the 120 Knesset seats. This would make Netanyahu the winner, but still wouldn’t be enough for him to gain a majority and form a government.
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