The marriage of convenience lasted barely eight months. It ended on Tuesday, December 22 at midnight, with the dissolution of the Knesset. Until the end, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government partner, Benny Gantz, tried to buy time in order to save their coalition, in which they no longer believed. Their own deputies whistled the end of the game: Monday, four of them voted against a text intended to push back the limit of adoption of the budget. The text did not pass, by two votes, and in the absence of agreement on the budget, Parliament was dissolved, as stipulated by law.
The Israelis will therefore return to the polls on March 23, for the fourth time in two years – an unprecedented situation in the country. “Delaying the dissolution of the Knesset to continue negotiations was just a waste of time”, justified Miki Haimovich, deputy of the centrist party Bleu-Blanc of Benny Gantz by voting against the text. “We must end the madness that has gripped our country. “ Exasperated by the spectacle of their coalition which was tearing itself apart a little more each day under the influence of egos and personal ambitions, some deputies preferred to stop the costs before permanently losing their electorate.
The two camps are passing the blame. “These days, I think we should have joined forces to avoid these unnecessary elections”, pretended to regret Benyamin Netanyahu, in reference to the pandemic. “Without a trial, we would have had a budget and we would not have new elections”, retorted the Blue-White party, alluding to his maneuvers to stay in power in order to protect himself in the face of his trial for corruption.
Debacle without appeal
The unnatural alliance between Mr. Netanyahu and his former rival Mr. Gantz, built hastily and without any political basis, has never worked. During three elections, in 2019 and 2020, the most durable prime minister in Israel’s history and the former army chief of staff clashed fiercely, without the ballot box reaching to decide between them. The soldier, who had built his brand new political career by posing as the anti-Netanyahu, surrendered on April 20. He signed a coalition agreement with his rival, negotiating a rotation in power: the prime minister would stay in his post for a year and a half, then he would take over. Mr. Gantz, who had promised that he would never sit in a government led by an indicted man, then justified his perjury by invoking the urgency dictated by the Covid-19 pandemic. In reaction, his list imploded: some of his running mates slammed the door, denouncing a “Betrayal” voters.
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