Israel will be heading into an unprecedented election, the fifth in three years, after Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that the government would advance a bill to dissolve parliament next week.
During a televised speech last Wednesday, Bennett explained he had “exhausted all options to stabilize” his minority coalition, which has been weakened by rebellious lawmakers in the past couple of weeks.
Most recently, the coalition failed to pass a bill that would have expanded Israeli law to Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
According to USA Today, right-wing lawmakers are hopeful that the upcoming elections will result in a “right-wing government” led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in power for 12 years before being ousted by Bennett in June 2021.
Netanyahu, who welcomed Bennett’s decision to dissolve the parliament, intends to establish “a wide, national government headed by Likud,” which is a right-wing Israeli political party.
He also blamed the government for being “dependent on supporters of terrorism,” such as the Arab-Israeli coalition party, the United Arab List.
Netanyahu, who is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, is currently on trial in three separate corruption cases. The former prime minister’s legal trouble is one reason several right-wing lawmakers and former allies refuse to join a government under his leadership.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is expected to become interim prime minister once parliament dissolves, in accordance with the coalition agreement. He commended Bennett, calling him a “vital Israeli leader while promising to continue to “wage the campaign against Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.”
Lapid will also welcome President Joe Biden during his first visit to the Holy Land next month, regardless of the ongoing political crisis.
While elections are scheduled to take place at the end of October, it can be avoided if 61 lawmakers gather behind a candidate to create a new government in the immediate future.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Luke Franzen
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
