In power for a year, he announced last week his intention to dissolve the Parliament to summon new elections after losing his majority.
Le Monde with AFP
Whatever the outcome of the next election, Naftali Bennett will not be part of the future Israeli government. The current Prime Minister decided not to be a candidate in the legislative elections, said his spokesperson, Wednesday, June 29.
The announcement was made shortly before the dissolution of the Parliament which must open the way to early elections. Initially, the Israeli deputies had planned to adopt a series of laws on Tuesday and Wednesday, before dissolving the Knesset in the evening, but the debates were lying in length on Wednesday evening; The vote on dissolution was finally postponed to Thursday.
In June 2021, Mr. Bennett and the current head of diplomacy, Yaïr Lapid, had written a page in the history of Israel by bringing together an eight -party coalition including, for the first time, an Arab training . This coalition had cut short twelve consecutive years of power of Benyamin Netanyahu.
A year later, the coalition lost its majority in the Chamber of Deputies. Mr. Bennett threw in the towel last week by announcing his intention to dissolve the Knesset to convene new elections.
Since this surprise announcement, Israel has gathered with rumors. The head of the opposition, Mr. Netanyahu (Likoud, right), tried to rally coalition deputies to form an “alternative government” and thus resume the post of Prime Minister without going through elections. But these attempts failed and a parliamentary committee acted in the night of Monday to Tuesday that the Parliament would be well dissolved on Wednesday.
Yaïr Lapid will ensure the interim
After the dissolution, Mr. Bennett will give way to Mr. Lapid. Their coalition agreement provided for a sharing of power, including a clause according to which Mr. Lapid assured the interim until the formation of a new government in the event of the dissolution of the Knesset. During the coming months, Mr. Bennett will keep the title of alternate Prime Minister, said his services.
“What we need today is to return to the concept of Israeli unity and not to let the shadow forces divide us,” said Lapid last week. This former star journalist, who founded a decade ago the centrist party Yesh Atid (“There is a future”, in Hebrew), will quickly put his troops in battle order for the elections.
It is he who will welcome, in mid-July, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, for his first tour in the Middle East since his arrival at the White House.