Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office announced Monday that his weakened coalition will dissolve, and the country will head to new elections.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said it is a “shame that the country needs to be dragged to elections,” as a Blue and White source tells The Times of Israel that Gantz did not know about the final decision before it was made.
Bennett and his main coalition partner, Yair Lapid, decided to present a vote to dissolve parliament in the coming days, Bennett’s office said. Lapid is then to serve as caretakever prime minister.
The election, expected in October or November, would be Israel’s fifth in three years.
The vote could set the stage for a return to power by longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now the opposition leader.
Israel held four inconclusive elections between 2019 and 2021 that were largely referendums about Netanyahu’s ability to rule while on trial for corruption. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had earlier been resisting pressure from his coalition partners to put forward a bill that would bar a lawmaker charged with a serious crime from becoming prime minister, which if approved would prevent former premier Benjamin Netanyahu from returning to power, Channel 12 reported Sunday.
Bennett reportedly told coalition heads that bringing the bill to the Knesset would bring about the downfall of the coalition because it would push Yamina MK Nir Orbach over to the Netanyahu camp.
Opinion polls have forecast that Netanyahu’s hardline Likud will once again emerge as the largest single party. But it remains unclear whether he would be able to muster the required support of a majority of lawmakers to form a new government.
Bennett formed the eight-party coalition in June 2021 after four successive inconclusive elections. It included a diverse array of parties, from dovish factions that support an end to Israel's occupation of lands captured in 1967, to hardline parties that oppose Palestinian independence. It made history by becoming the first Israeli coalition government to include an Arab party.
-TOIS/AP/ABC