Israel: Parliament votes for its dissolution in first reading
Under a power-sharing agreement between Bennett and current Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the latter will be prime minister after the dissolution of Parliament until the next government is formed.
Bennett and Lapid had assembled in June 2021 a coalition unique in Israel’s history comprising parties from the right, center, left and, for the first time, an Arab party, in order to put an end to twelve years without interruption of the reign of Benjamin Netanyahu at the head of the government.
But the coalition has suffered several setbacks in recent weeks and, to further weaken it, the opposition on June 6 slapped it by gathering a majority of votes against a bill to extend the application of Israeli law to the 475,000 Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank.
The law was to be renewed by 30 June, otherwise settlers in the West Bank – Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 – risked losing their legal protection under Israeli law. In the event of the dissolution of Parliament, this law is automatically extended.
Israeli lawmakers voted early Tuesday, June 28 in first reading a bill to dissolve parliament, a key step towards calling new early elections, the fifth in less than four years in Israel.
