Israel Heads for Third Election as Deadlock Continues
Prime Minister Netanyahu: “In order to prevent this [from] happening again, there is only one thing we must do: win and win big.”
Israel is heading for a third election in eleven months after repeated rounds of negotiations failed to yield a coalition government.
In consecutive elections, which took place in April and September, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party nor the opposition Blue and White alliance managed to secure a majority in a 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
In September, Blue and White alliance, led by former army chief Benny Gantz, got 33 seats, as opposed to 32 seats won by Netanyahu’s Likud party. Both blocs failed to cobble together a 61-seat majority in the Knesset.
The deadline set by President Reuven Rivlin expired at midnight on Wednesday, triggering the third round of elections.
Netanyahu, who did not attend last night’s Knesset session, called out his political rivals for forcing a new election.
“In order to prevent this [from] happening again, there is only one thing we must do: win and win big,” he said in a video message posted on social media.
Israeli TV channel i24News reported Wednesday night’s Knesset proceedings that led to the new election:
After months of deadlocked talks and the indictment of the prime minister, Israel moved Wednesday to its third election in 12 months, a first in the history of the Jewish state.
The elections will likely deepen polarization and fuel deep dissatisfaction with politicians that have been unable to form a government in a year. (…)
MPs [members of parliament] had until 23.59 to find a candidate capable of gaining a majority in the parliament, or Knesset but the deadline passed, meaning parliament dissolves and the country returns to the polls in March.
MPs were expected to confirm the exact date and confirmed election procedures and financing in the early hours of Thursday.
Lawmakers proposed March 2, 2020 as the date for the vote, but should they fail to agree the date will automatically be set for 90 days from today — March 10.
The political uncertainty comes at a crucial time for the Jewish state. The Iranian regime continues to advance its nuclear missile program. Tehran’s tentacles are reaching out all across the Middle East, creating havoc in the neighboring Gulf States, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. Iran-funded terror organizations, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have carried out numerous attacks against the Israeli army and civilians. The Islamic regime in Tehran has repeated its threats to destroy the Jewish state in recent days, even as it mows down its own people protesting in the streets.
The political crisis has been deepened by charges of corruption faced by Netanyahu. Last month, the Israeli attorney general indicted him on charges of corruption, paving the way for three separate court cases. The country’s longest-serving prime minister denies wrongdoing, calling his indictment an “attempted coup.” The timing of the announcement “highlights how much this decision is tainted by extraneous considerations, aiming to bring down a right-wing Prime Minister,” he said in a televised addressed at that time.
Netanyahu will remain in office, running a caretaker government until a new government is formed.
[Cover image via YouTube]
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Comments
Can’t be good for national security
Doesn’t Netanyahu remain PM until a new government is formed?
Yes, but in a caretaker capacity, as he’s been for the past year. Which means he can’t take new initiatives, at least without the opposition leader’s consent.
And here we see the perks of an independent Presidential System. Not required for the idiot factions to all get along.
They tried electing the prime minister separately. The result was a boom in voting for minor parties. The reason is that some voters really prefer a minor party, but don’t trust it to support their preferred candidate for prime minister, so they reluctantly vote for that person’s party just to be sure; once they got the ability to vote separately for that person, they gave their knesset vote to the party they really wanted. So the major parties got together to end that experiment.
Israel needs constitutional reform. Their present electoral system and structure of government guarantee constant infighting and make it nearly impossible to get anything done.
Even when there is a government, the power struggles and profound disagreements on policy within the cabinet result in any decision that is approved being watered down until it’s meaningless. There needs to be someone in charge with authority to act when action is needed (and not be molested by politically-driven judges and prosecutors).
Sounds like the US & every other nation where the people get to choose. Rarely seems to happen as often in dictatorships, monarchies & other countries without free voting. Seems the ability to make your enemies & detractors disappear has that “advantage”. Of course, you usually don’t get to leave office voluntarily…or alive…in those nations either. It would seem the same disagreement as between Abel & Cain has traveled with us all down the years.
There is one coming who will control all nations but it isn’t going to be good or end well.
You either have no understanding at all of how elections and government are structured under the Israeli system, or you’re an idiot. There’s a great deal of room for improvement without approaching anything near a dictatorship. Nothing can be managed by a committee composed of warring tribes, and someone must be empowered to make immediate decisions when it’s necessary.