Israel’s Parliament collapsed on Tuesday after the government failed to pass a budget, pushing the country into yet another round of early...
Israel’s Parliament collapsed on Tuesday after the government failed to pass a budget, pushing the country into yet another round of early elections, the fourth in two years, reported BBC. Voters will return to the polls in March, just 12 months after the last round.
Two main parties in the unity government – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party with his main rival-turned-partner, Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party – failed to meet a deadline to pass the 2020 state budget. The coalition had time till Tuesday midnight.
Netanyahu and Gantz established a unity government in May in the wake of three inconclusive elections held since April last year. Under the three-year coalition deal, Netanyahu was supposed to serve as prime minister for 18 months, with Gantz taking over in November, 2021.
Gantz had demanded that the government pass a budget covering 2020 and 2021, arguing that Israel, and the coalition, needed stability, according to Al Jazeera. But Netanyahu refused to endorse the spending plans for next year.
Some political analysts said Netanyahu had hoped to use the budget dispute as a way to engineer fresh elections that would get him out of the power-sharing agreement with Gantz, reported Reuters. A new election would mean...
