Israel’s parliament votes to dissolve, triggering fifth election in four years
On Friday, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will officially take over as caretaker prime minister under a coalition deal struck between incumbent Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Lapid last year. Because Lapid – a former journalist and star TV presenter – is an interim prime minister, there will be no official swearing-in ceremony.
Thursday’s 92-0 vote finally ends the slow motion of Bennett’s run for prime minister – one of the shortest terms in Israel’s history – and gives former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a potential route to return to power.
When the vote ended, Lapid and Bennett embraced, hugged and changed seats so that Lapid sat as Prime Minister.
As they were leaving the Knesset, Bennett accidentally took Lapid’s cell phone. “Brother,” Lapid said, “you took my phone.” Bennett replied, “Brother, you took my job.”
New elections will be held on November 1 – the fifth ballot for Israelis in less than four years. A recent poll shows former Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party on track to win the most seats, but polls don’t show his right-wing bloc will necessarily have enough seats to secure a majority. parliamentary and be able to form a government in power.
Speaking in parliament ahead of the dissolution vote, Netanyahu vowed to return to power.
“We are the only alternative: a strong, stable and accountable national government. A government that will restore national honor to the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
The day before the disbandment, Bennett announced that he would retire from politics and not run again.
“I will remain a loyal soldier of this country, which I have served all my life as a soldier, officer, minister and prime minister. The State of Israel is the love of my life. To serve it is my destiny” , Bennett said. in a speech to the nation. “Now is the time for me to take a step back. Look at things from the outside.”
The coalition government had been wavering for weeks. But Bennett and Lapid’s announcement last week that they wanted to dissolve their own government and hand over power to Lapid came as a surprise.
“Over the past few weeks, we have done everything we can to save this government. In our view, its continued existence was in the national interest,” Bennett said earlier this month, alongside Lapid.
“Believe me, we looked under every rock. We didn’t do this for ourselves, but for our beautiful country, for you citizens of Israel,” Bennett added.
The Bennett-Lapid government was sworn in in June last year, ending Netanyahu’s term as prime minister, which had lasted more than 12 years.
Made up of no fewer than eight political parties, the coalition spanned the political spectrum, including for the first time an Arab party, led by Mansour Abbas.
United in a desire to prevent Netanyahu – whose corruption trial had already begun in May 2020 – from staying in power, the disparate coalition partners agreed to put aside their substantive differences.
Although it recorded significant domestic and diplomatic achievements, it was domestic politics that ultimately brought down the coalition.
In recent weeks, a number of coalition members have resigned or threatened to resign, leaving the government without a majority in parliament to pass laws.
The political impasse came to a head earlier this month, when a vote in the Knesset failed to confirm the application of Israeli criminal and civil law to Israelis in the occupied West Bank.
Among other things, the settlement, which must be renewed every five years, grants Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territories the same legal treatment they have inside Israel’s borders, and is an article of faith for right-wing coalition members, including Prime Minister Bennett.
But two coalition members refused to support the bill, meaning it did not pass.
Since parliament was dissolved before the law expired on July 1, the settlement will remain in place until a new government is formed, when it will again be put to a vote.
Andrew Carey contributed to this report.