ISRAEL TO HOLD NEW VOTE AS PM FAILS TO FORM COALITION.
Netanyahu fails to meet deadline for coalition
Benjamin Netanyahu’s “tremendous victory” in Israeli elections last month turned out to be premature as he failed to form a government and engineered new elections instead — thrusting both his future and the Trump administration’s peace plan into question.
Netanyahu glided past tangled corruption scandals to win what appeared to be a fifth term as prime minister in the April 9 vote. But the man famous for outmanoeuvring rivals and allies was tripped up by one-time partners who couldn’t reach a compromise on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army.
The Israeli leader couldn’t cobble together a coalition government within the allotted six weeks, which expired Wednesday night. To block rivals from getting a shot at his job, he pushed through legislation late Wednesday to dissolve the month-old parliament and go back to the ballot box. Elections were set for Sept. 17.
That gambit could backfire, even though public opinion polls this week suggested a similar breakdown of Knesset seats.
“Elections are like wars,” said Shmuel Sandler, a political science professor at BarIlan University. “You know how you go in, but you never know how it ends.”
In February, Israel’s attorney general notified the prime minister that he planned to charge him with bribery and fraud, pending an October hearing where Netanyahu will plead his case and try to avert indictment.
In the course of coalition negotiations, Netanyahu had been talking with prospective partners about legislation to shield him from prosecution as long as he’s in office. If the Knesset is disbanded, he won’t be able to push that legislation through until a new parliament is seated — and by then an indictment may already be filed.
The presentation of the long-awaited U.S. peace plan also could face obstacles. Its initial component is a lateJune conference in Bahrain that’s meant to galvanize support for investments in the Palestinian economy.
The administration’s Middle East envoys, Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, are scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday. An administration official said the Bahrain conference will go ahead as scheduled.
It was the first time in Israel’s history that a prime minister-designate wasn’t able to form a coalition.