Early elections will be held in Israel on March 23, after the Israeli parliament (Knesset) failed on Tuesday to meet the deadline for approving the budget, which necessitated its dissolution.
The Speaker of the Knesset announced his dissolution late on Tuesday evening, in a televised session, saying that holding early elections has become automatic due to the failure of Parliament to approve the budget.
This is the fourth election in Israel in two years, and it came after the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his partner in the ruling coalition "Blue and White" headed by Defense Minister Benny Gantz failed;
In passing a law to delay approval of the budget for two weeks.
"Likud did not want elections, and we voted repeatedly against them," Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday evening, promising that his party would win them.
Netanyahu (left) and Gantz formed a coalition government last May after 3 elections (Reuters)
The deadline for approving the budget according to the law (after a maximum of 100 days after forming the government) was scheduled to end on August 25, but the Knesset introduced an amendment to the law and the deadline was postponed to December 23.
During that period, the dispute prevailed between Netanyahu and Gantz over the budget;
The former wanted to approve it for a year, while Gantz insisted that it be for two years according to the coalition agreement signed between them last April, and according to which the government was formed one month later.
The Israeli parliamentary election campaign begins at a time when Netanyahu is facing popular anger over the approach he took to address the Corona crisis, in addition to his follow-up before the courts on charges of corruption.
Netanyahu and Gantz formed a unity government last May after three inconclusive elections since April 2019, but they reached a dead end due to a dispute over approving the budget, a necessary step to implement an agreement under which Gantz would take power from Netanyahu in November 2021. .