Israeli lawmakers voted in favor of dissolving parliament in a preliminary vote Wednesday, driving the wheels to send the country to its fifth national elections in 3 1/2 years.
The development was the first step in a series of votes ahead of the official dissolution of the 120-seat Knesset. It came two days after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced he was dissolving a crumbling ruling coalition of eight ideologically different parties just over a year after taking office.
The historic coalition that toppled longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been shattered by fighting and desertions in recent months. It included pigeon parties committed to the two-state solution with the Palestinians, ultranationalist hawks who oppose a Palestinian state, and a small Islamist faction, the first Arab party to join the government.
A series of proposals to dissolve parliament were accepted by the vast majority of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. But a final vote on at least one of the proposals is still needed to dissolve parliament, and it is expected to take place next week.
After that, Bennett will step down as prime minister and hand over the reins to his ally, Foreign Minister Jair Lapid. New elections are expected in October.
Bennett and Lapid formed their coalition of parties united only in opposition to Netanyahu last year after four inconclusive elections in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Parliament was at a dead end between those who supported the Netanyahu-led government and those who they refused to join forces with him while he was charged with corruption.
Netanyahu is on trial and faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three important cases. He has denied wrongdoing and has repeatedly denied the allegations as part of a witch hunt to remove him from office.
Early opinion polls on Tuesday published a draft that Netanyahu’s Likud party would remain the largest in parliament, but the path to forming a majority coalition remains unclear.
After the vote, Bennett wrote on Twitter that he would vote against proposed legislation that would disqualify a lawmaker accused of a crime from becoming prime minister. Several senior members of his coalition said this week that they would propose a bill that would effectively ban Netanyahu from regaining his post.
Bennett said that “definitely on the eve of the election, one cannot try to change the rules of the game” and that Israeli voters must decide who will take office.
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