Israel’s parliament moves to break up, force new elections
ISRAEL’S precarious coalition government took a first step towards collapse on December 2, as lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a bill dissolving parliament, raising the risk of a fourth election inside two years.
The measure passed with the support of Benny Gantz and his Blue White party, the key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, sparking an intensified war of words between the two men on December 2 evening.
In a prime-time address the previous night, Gantz – defence minister and alternate prime minister – had declared that he would support the oppositionsponsored measure, accusing Netanyahu of self-interest and depriving the country of a budget.
The bill duly earned 61 votes, with 54 voting against, but that only marks a first step and it must still pass several additional parliamentary readings before a new election is called.
Netanyahu and Gantz locked horns on December 2 evening, with the premier accusing Gantz of violating their coalition agreements and calling on him to return to the fold.
“Benny Gantz must pull the handbrake. He must stop the downhill spin to elections, halt the unhinged attacks on us,” Netanyahu told a press conference.
“The country can’t be dragged into election politics while we need to focus on the battle with the coronavirus.”
Gantz hit back, telling Netanyahu in a statement: “Your long campaign of deceit and lies is over.
“The damage you’re inflicting on the people of this country . . . suggests that you have lost it.”
Gantz’s decision to side with the opposition, at least for now, highlights the widening cracks in Israel’s centreright coalition, imperilled from the start by mistrust, infighting and public recriminations.
Gantz battled Netanyahu in three consecutive inconclusive elections that did not produce a majority coalition for either leader.
In his December 1 speech, Gantz said he agreed a unity government with Netanyahu because he wanted to spare Israelis “an ugly and costly”
fourth election, especially as the coronavirus pandemic was accelerating.
The president of the Israel Democracy think tank, Yohanan Plesner, described December 2’s vote as “the opening shot in the blame game” between Netanyahu and Gantz.
But, Plesner cautioned, both men had a lot to lose in being perceived as the cause of a fourth vote and might play for time over the coming weeks.
The Netanyahu-Gantz coalition, agreed in April, included strict powersharing arrangements, with cabinet posts split roughly evenly between allies of both men.
Netanyahu, who heads the rightwing Likud party, was to serve as prime
minister for the first half of the threeyear arrangement.
Gantz had been due to take over as premier in November next year.
The unity deal included multiple triggers that would automatically force new elections, including a failure to pass a budget.
Gantz accused Netanyahu of consistently stalling over the budget in order to keep the coalition unstable and made clear that if Netanyahu put one forward, new elections could be avoided.
If no budget is passed this month and the coalition fails, elections could be held as early as March, but the polls could be pushed back to June depending on parliamentary manoeuvring.