After only a year, Knesset takes first step toward elections
The Knesset plenum approved on Wednesday in a preliminary reading the bill to dissolve the Knesset, the first stage toward sending Israel to the fifth round of elections in less than four years.
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90.
The bill for the dissolution of the 24th Knesset before the end of its term, submitted by several Members of Knesset, was supported by 110 MKs without opponents. It will now be passed to the Knesset committee, which will decide which committee will prepare the proposal for the first reading.
“Since the Israeli government is unable to lead the State of Israel, it is proposed to dissolve the twenty-fourth Knesset and declare elections to the twenty-fifth Knesset within 90 days,” the bill reads.
MK Yariv Levin of the opposition stated that “about a year ago, the worst government in the history of Israel was sworn in in the Knesset, a government that was formed on the basis of blind hatred and unprecedented misuse of the trust of the electorate. No wonder your ending chord is also done in a disgraceful way.”
The opposition celebrated the vote as a victory.
The Knesset is dissolving itself only a year after it was established, following Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s announcement Monday night that he was leaving office and turning over the reins of power to Yair Lapid, who will serve as interim prime minister.
After only a year in power, Bennett has been facing repeated upheavals within his staff, party, and coalition, and most recently, he lost the majority in the Knesset, and elections were only a question of time.
Lapid, currently the foreign minister, is expected to become prime minister in the coming days.
New elections are expected in late October or early November, the fifth general election in Israel in the past three and a half years and only a little over 18 months since the last elections.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is reportedly working to establish a new government in the current Knesset, possibly saving the country from another contentious political process. However, most political pundits believe that the chances of success of such a move are slim.
