The Israeli Parliament on Wednesday supported its own dissolution and the organization of new elections, a proposal presented on Monday by the leaders of the governing coalition after having exhausted all attempts to stabilize the alliance, which will lead to the fifth elections in less than four years. The process of dissolving the Knesset (Parliament) requires four votes and two reviews by parliamentary committees, a process that will not end this Wednesday and could even last until next week, amid growing disputes between the coalition and the opposition. and differences within the Executive.
The only government in Israel’s history supported by an Arab party and forged to oust former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power wanted to avoid thorny issues, but has inevitably stumbled over the question of the conflict with the palestinians. In this situation, the opposition bloc led by Netanyahu seeks formulas to achieve a minimum majority with which to create an alternative government and tries to convince deputies of the coalition to do so.
“A sad day for democracy”
The head of the coalition bloc in the Knesset, Boaz Toporovskysaid that the decision to dissolve Parliament is “for the good of the state”. However, he acknowledged that “it is a sad day for democracy” and criticized the opposition, led by Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, for having “in love with jamming the system of government”.
The first Minister Naphtali Bennett and the foreign minister Yair Lapid managed to form in June 2021 a coalition with eight parties from across the political spectrum (right, center, left and for the first time by an Arab formation) with the aim of putting an end to 12 years of Netanyahu’s government. As their agreement provided for the rotation of the two men in the prime ministerial position and the replacement of Bennett by Lapid in case of dissolution, the latter could become the next head of government until the formation of a new coalition, if this bill is approved.
Until the dissolution becomes effective, the opposition can try to gather 61 deputies, that is, a majority that could avoid elections and ask to form a new government. To that end, Likud makes efforts to attract right-wing coalition partners.
“There is still the possibility of an alternative government led by Netanyahu”expressed Miri Regeva Likud deputy, on military radio. Netanyahuwho was charged with corruption, celebrated on Monday the fall of the governmenta moment he described as “great news for millions of Israeli citizens”.
The Palestinian settler crisis
The governing coalition had to deal with the issue of the renewal of the settler law, which allows Israeli laws to apply to the more than 475,000 Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank. This text, in force since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, is ratified every five years by Parliament.
But the opposition, which largely supports this law, managed on June 6 to gather a majority of votes against the renewal of the text, hoping to show the internal tensions of the coalition. In the weeks leading up to that vote, the coalition had already lost its majority with the departure of a deputy from the Yamina party, Idit Selman. And since that vote, another member of this right-wing party, Nir Orbach, has threatened to stop supporting the government.