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The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, failed to pass the new budget law before the legally binding deadline of midnight on Tuesday, and as a result, it was dissolved: Israel will vote again on March 23, for the fourth time in two years. The current government, made up of a coalition between Likud, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, and Azul y Blanco, Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s centrist party, will remain in office for current affairs until the elections.
The government of Netanyahu and Gantz was born in May after another election from which a clear majority had not emerged: Netanyahu had managed to convince Gantz, his opponent since he entered politics, about two years ago, by explaining that the country had needed a stable government to deal with the pandemic and promising that in November 2021 he would step aside to step down as Gantz prime minister. However, relations between Gantz and Netanyahu had deteriorated very quickly and for several weeks there had been talk of a probable government crisis.
Likud and Blue and White were in talks to reach an agreement on the budget law and try to avoid new elections. An attempt to pass a law that would have extended the deadline to pass the budget law until next week (giving more time to reach an agreement) had failed on Monday and the latest negotiations between Gantz and Netanyahu had also been futile today.
For the time being, despite mismanagement of the coronavirus epidemic, Netanyahu remains strong in the polls as Gantz’s popularity has plummeted following the decision to join the coalition government (which also resulted in a split between Blue and white). In recent weeks, however, Yamina, a far-right party led by former Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, has grown a lot in the polls, which in the polls is very close to the Likud. The elections next March will be the fourth in two years, after those of April and September 2019 and March 2020, which had not given any party or coalition a clear majority.
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