JERUSALEM, May 30 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, approved Wednesday night a law for its dissolution, less than two months after the general elections that took place on April 9.
The next elections are expected to be held on Sept. 17, 2019.
The bill, passed with 74 in favor and 45 against, came to a vote after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a new government in the past 42 days given to him.
The Likud party, led by Netanyhu, and other right-wing parties had won a majority of 65 seats out of 120 in the Knesset in April’s elections.
But one of the right-wing parties, Yisrael Beiteinu party headed by Avigdor Lieberman, also former Minister of Defense, refused to join the coalition.
The refusal stemmed from Lieberman’s demand that the Israeli draft law be amended so that Jewish religious students would join the Israeli army, arousing the opposition of the ultra-Orthodox parties that were planned to be in the coalition.
“Lieberman unfortunately misled his voters,” Netanyahu criticized Lieberman. “He had no intention of doing what he said from the first moment. He wanted to bring down this government to get a few votes in the elections, but he will not succeed.”
Lieberman replied that Israel is heading for elections “because of Netanyahu’s refusal to accept our proposal on the draft law.”
He added that all of Netanyahu’s “compromise proposals” were designed to buy time and dissolve the law. “We will not be partners in a religious-law government.”
NNN-XINHUA
