Israel’s weak coalition government has decided to dissolve parliament and call new elections, the country’s fifth in three years.
Key points:
- Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says dissolving parliament is “the right decision for Israel”
- Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over from Bennett on an interim basis
- Mr Bennett’s decision was forced by expiration of West Bank settler laws
The vote, scheduled for the fall of Israel, could lead to the return of a nationalist religious government led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another prolonged period of political deadlock.
Israel’s previous four elections focused on Netanyahu’s ability to govern while on trial on corruption charges. They ended up in a stalemate.
At a nationally televised press conference, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was not easy to dissolve the government, but described it as “the right decision for Israel”.
The fragile coalition government, which includes parties across the political spectrum, lost its majority earlier this year and has faced rebellions from various lawmakers in recent weeks.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over from Bennett on an interim basis in an agreement they announced together.
Yair Lapid will take over from Naftali Bennett on an interim basis. (AP: Maya Alleruzzo)
Bennett listed a number of successes and promised an “orderly” transition.
Mr. Lapid thanked Mr. Bennett to put the country ahead of his personal interests.
“Even if we go to the polls in a few months, our challenges as a state cannot wait,” Lapid said.
Bennett formed the eight-party coalition in June 2021 after four inconclusive successive elections.
The coalition included a wide variety of parties, from conciliatory factions supporting the end of Israeli occupation of the lands captured in 1967, to hard-line parties opposing Palestinian independence.
Often described as a political “experiment,” it made history by becoming the first Israeli coalition government to include an Arab party.
The alliance achieved a number of achievements, including the approval of the first national budget in several years and the navigation of a couple of outbreaks of COVID-19 without imposing any blockade.
Eventually, however, he disbanded, in large part because several members of Mr. Bennett’s hard-line party opposed what they believed were commitments made by him to keep the coalition afloat and its perceived moderation.
West Bank law forces Bennett to dissolve government
The immediate cause of Mr. Bennett’s decision was the expiration of laws granting West Bank settlers special legal status.
Naftali Bennett dissolved parliament by a West Bank settlers law. (Reuters: Darren Whiteside / Archive)
If these laws expired, settlers would be subject to many of the military laws that apply to more than two million Palestinians in the territory.
Parliament was due to vote to extend the law earlier this month.
However, the hard-line opposition, largely made up of settlers’ supporters, paradoxically voted against the bill to embarrass the government.
Coalition dovish members who normally oppose settlements voted in favor of the bill in hopes of keeping the government afloat.
With the dissolution of parliament, the laws remain in force. Bennett, a former settler leader, said that if he had allowed the laws to expire, there would have been “grave dangers to security and constitutional chaos.”
“I couldn’t let that happen,” he said.
The dissolution threatens to overshadow a visit scheduled by President Joe Biden for next month. The U.S. embassy said the visit was expected to take place as planned.
Netanyahu described the impending dissolution of parliament as “great news” for millions of Israelis and said he would form “a broad nationalist government led by Likud” after the next election.
Israel held four inconclusive elections between 2019 and 2021 that were largely referendums on Netanyahu’s ability to govern while on trial for corruption. Netanyahu denies any crime.
Opinion polls have predicted that Netanyahu’s hard-line Likud will once again be the biggest party.
But it is unclear whether he will be able to gather the necessary support from most lawmakers to form a new government.
AP