Israel has narrowly avoided being stumped in a fourth round of elections, after Benjamin Netanyahu announced a contract with his coalition partner to delay the country’s budget.
The prime minister secured his political survival earlier this year by agreeing to a coalition agreement with Benny Gantz, but the unfortunate alliance faced imminent collapse on financial matters.
Legislators had to pass the budget or approve a 100-day extension until midnight on Monday, otherwise parliament would be automatically dissolved and polls set for November.
Just hours after the government’s weekly cabinet meeting was scrapped, following reports of disagreement, Netanyahu said he had agreed to an extension “out of national responsibility”.
“This is the time for unity and not for elections,” he said.
Netanyahu’s remarks came shortly after Gantz’s Blue and White Party accused him of manipulation and “spitting in the face of the Israeli public.”
“We call on the Prime Minister to come in line and come back to see the good of the country instead of his own personal good,” the party said in a statement.
Both sides had traded wood several times in recent days, leading to fears that Israelis could return to the ballot box.
The end of the political death knell prevents the coalition from crawling out, but does not resolve Israel’s financial woes. After the budget was delayed by three inconsistent elections, the government used the plan last year 2020.
With the coronavirus pandemic provoking an economic crisis, the government has announced additional financial measures such as cash expenditures to Israelis, but some experts say such an approach is not sustainable.
“We have never had such a touching situation before,” said Daphna Aviram-Nitzan of the Israel Democracy Institute, who argued that passing on a budget was vital for growth.
“The government needs to start leading the way and start showing that they know what to do,” said Aviram-Nitzan, who heads the institute’s administration and economics department. “It’s the minimum they have to give to the business sector,” she said, before Netanyahu announced the compromise.
Unemployment peaked at 27% in April and, with the country experiencing a second wave of coronavirus infections, officials said a second shutdown in the coming weeks would be a further blow to the company.
The coalition deal that Netanyahu and Gantz insisted on included a two-year budget, but the prime minister had only pressed for a one-year budget for 2020.
Netanyahu’s critics had accused him of missing Monday’s deadline so he could tear up the deal under which Gantz would take over as prime minister late next year.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday held talks with party leaders and told them that Israelis “feel cheated and suspicious” after three elections in less than a year. “The president stressed that it is inconceivable that the question of approving the budget will lead to a fourth round of elections,” the Rivlin bureau said.
Netanyahu’s decision paves the way for lawmakers to approve the three-month delay to move over a budget, although the threat of questioning could return as the new deadline approaches.
A poll published earlier this week showed Likud would be the frontrunner in elections, garnering 29 seats compared to the 36 it won in March. Blue and white would only take up nine seats, according to the 33-year-old Ma’ariv newspaper, after lawmakers left the party once Gantz joined the coalition.
“[Likud’s] the position is somewhat weakened in the polls, but it is still clearly the largest party, “political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin said on Thursday.” Netanyahu has some interest in running for office or threatening to call elections. “
Netanyahu insisted on the deal reached with the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, but his success in foreign policy cannot mask dissatisfaction among voters over his recent handling of the pandemic.
Thousands of Israelis protested outside the Jerusalem prime minister on Saturday night, the latest in weeks of demonstrations. Israelis are also fighting against political corruption, after Netanyahu became the first incumbent prime minister to go on trial in May.
But despite calls to oust the prime minister, many Israelis will be confident that the prospect of a fresh demand for now is ruled out.
“The public does not want any other election,” Scheindlin said. “It’s crazy.”
