The Israeli coalition led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett cleared the first major hurdle on its path to ending the current government on Wednesday, passing the first of the four votes necessary to disperse the Knesset and force snap elections.
Unable to agree even on dissolution, the opposition and coalition submitted several separate versions of the legislation — nine opposition bills and two coalition versions.
The coalition’s primary version passed with 106 votes in favor and one against, while the opposition bills all passed with over 89 votes. All will now move to the Knesset House Committee to determine which committee will prepare them for their next vote, the first reading.
The dissolution process requires four separate votes and two committee reviews, and is not expected to be completed on Wednesday. The Knesset is expected to complete the process next week, perhaps as early as Monday.
Despite a relatively mild hour-long debate over the bills, Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy dismissed attempts to applaud the passage of the 11 preliminary readings to dissolve the Knesset.
“No, no, no, stop. It’s over,” Levy said.
On Monday, Bennett and Foreign Minster Yair Lapid surprised the nation by announcing their intention to voluntarily disband the Knesset and send Israel to its fifth election since 2019.
After months of political instability kicked off by losing its one-seat majority in early April and exacerbated by security tensions, Bennett and Lapid said they arrived at their decision after attempts to restore order in the coalition were “exhausted.”
Following the expected dissolution, Lapid will assume the role of interim prime minister until a new government is sworn in, post elections.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
