Israel’s coalition government announced on Monday that it would dissolve parliament and call new elections, setting the stage for the possible return to power of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another period of prolonged political deadlock.
Elections will be Israel’s fifth in three years and will once again place polarizer Netanyahu, who has been the leader of the opposition for the past year, back at the center of the political universe.
“I think the winds have changed. I’m sorry,” Netanyahu said.
At a nationwide televised press conference, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was not easy to dissolve the government, but called it “the right decision for Israel.”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over from Bennett on an interim basis in an agreement they announced together.
Lapid said he would not wait until new elections to address the problems facing Israel.
“We need to address the cost of living, campaign against Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, and confront the forces that threaten to turn Israel into a non-democratic country,” he said.
Bennett has struggled to keep his unruly eight-party coalition together since he took office a year ago, and desertions have left the alliance in ruins without a majority in parliament for more than two months.
Coalition formed after 4 inconclusive elections
Bennett formed the eight-party coalition in June 2021, after four inconclusive successive elections.
It included a wide variety of parties, from dovish factions supporting the end of Israeli occupation of the lands captured in 1967, to hard-line parties opposing Palestinian independence. It made history by becoming the first Israeli coalition government to include an Arab party.
The alliance achieved a number of achievements, including approving the first national budget in several years and navigating a couple of coronavirus outbreaks without imposing any blockade.
An Israeli soldier watches a bus stop as Israeli settlers await a trip to the Gush Etzion crossroads, the transportation hub for a series of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, on June 9th. The immediate cause of Bennett’s decision was the expiration of laws granting settlers special legal status. (Maya Alleruzzo / The Associated Press)
But it eventually fell apart, in large part because several members of Bennett’s hard-line party opposed what they believed were commitments made by him to keep the coalition afloat and its perceived moderation.
The immediate cause of Bennett’s decision was the imminent expiration of laws granting special West Bank settlers special legal status. 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. But the hard-line opposition, largely made up of supporters of the settlers, paradoxically voted against the bill in order to embarrass the government. Coalition members who normally oppose the agreements 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 threatened to overshadow a visit scheduled for next month by U.S. President Joe Biden. Israeli media quoted Biden Ambassador Tom Nides as saying the visit would take place as planned.
“One of the longest funerals in history”
Elections could also become an opportunity for former Prime Minister Netanyahu to return to power.
Israel’s inconclusive elections between 2019 and 2021 were largely referendums on its ability to govern while on trial for corruption. Netanyahu denies the wrongdoing.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear in court in East Jerusalem on March 23. Opinion polls predict that his hard-line Likud will re-emerge as the single largest party after the election. But it is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. (Flash 90 / The Associated Press)
Opinion polls have predicted that Netanyahu’s hard-line Likud will re-emerge as the single largest party. But it is unclear whether he will be able to gather the necessary support from most lawmakers to form a new government.
Netanyahu has mocked Bennett, a close aide, saying last week that his government had held “one of the longest funerals in history.”