Posted in: 30/06/2022 – 08:34
The Israeli Knesset will hold a session Thursday to dissolve itself, in a step that paves the way for holding the fifth elections in less than four years. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett moved last week to dissolve parliament following an internal conflict left his ruling coalition unable to govern. The prospect of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power is likely to dominate the election campaign.
In a move that paves the way for holding the fifth elections in less than four years, it is heading Israel Thursday to dissolve the Knesset, adding to political uncertainty at a time when it is suffering from a rising cost of living and renewed international efforts to revive a nuclear deal with Iran.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he will not run in the upcoming elections, but will retain his position as prime minister alternately following his coalition partner Yair Lapid takes over the interim government. “I leave behind a country that is prosperous, strong and secure,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “We have shown this year that people with very different opinions can work together,” he added, referring to his ideologically diverse coalition.
Bennett moved last week to dissolve parliament following an internal conflict left his ruling coalition unable to govern. Israeli Radio Kan reported that the final vote on a draft resolution to dissolve the Knesset, which was scheduled to take place at midnight on Wednesday, was postponed until Thursday due to the many amendments that were submitted.
What is the next step following the dissolution of the Israeli Knesset?
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The amendments were submitted by parties from across the political spectrum. Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said his party blocked the bill, and the Arab-dominated Joint List said it hoped the blockage would lead to the expiration of regulations that expand legal protections for settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Once the Knesset agrees to call early elections, center-left Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over from Bennett to become prime minister of a caretaker government with limited powers.
Netanyahu’s return is at stake
Despite disagreements among Knesset members over a specific date for the elections and whether they will be held on October 25 or November 1, the campaign is supposed to be dominated by the prospect of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power.
Lapid and Bennett last year ended Netanyahu’s record-long rule by forming a rare coalition of right-wing, liberal and Arab parties that lasted longer than many expected, but collapsed recently under the weight of internal disputes.
Netanyahu, currently the leader of the opposition, expressed his happiness at the end of what he described as the worst government in Israel’s history. He hopes to win a sixth term despite being tried on corruption charges he denies.
Opinion polls showed his Likud party advancing, but its popularity is still less than achieving a ruling majority, despite the support of religious and nationalist parties allied to it. Knesset members from the pro-Netanyahu bloc said they were working to form a new government before dissolving parliament. This possibility, although it seems remote, would preclude the holding of early elections.
FRANCE 24/Archyde.com
