23rd Knesset disperses, sending Israel to elections likely by end of March 2021
Last-ditch effort to grant more time for Netanyahu and Gantz to agree on a budget fails
As the Knesset (Israel Parliament) failed to pass a state budget by midnight Tuesday, the Jewish state will head into its fourth election in less than two years with the general vote expectedly taking place at the end of March 2021.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein's announcement in the plenum at midnight made the elections official, and urged politicians to "avoid escalating tensions."
Despite forming a unity government under the pretext of an emergency crisis driven by the coronavirus pandemic, relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz have been frail since the formation of the coalition nine months ago.
Dissenting voices within Gantz’s Blue and White party have grown in recent weeks, after reportedly not trusting Netanyahu to uphold the rotation agreement that would put the former military chief in charge of the state in November 2021.
The prolonged negotiations with the Likud party over the state budget have eventually collapsed, automatically dissolving the Knesset in accordance to Israeli law.
The somewhat mismatched amalgamation of the right-wing Likud and center-left Blue and White parties has ensued with seething disputes, chiefly over the lack of government appointments and the budget.
Earlier on Tuesday, delivering an address to the nation, Netanyahu stressed that he wanted to avoid general elections, yet Blue and White was forcing the Likud's hand through "irresponsible" politicking.
Gantz tweeted in response that "Netanyahu is taking us to elections just so that he doesn't go to court."
Polls on Tuesday conducted by Israeli news outlets showed Netanyahu's Likud leading, with former Likud lawmaker Gideon Sa'ar's New Dawn party coming in second. According to the polls, Gantz's Blue and White party will barely receive enough votes to be seated in the plenum.