“After exhausting all efforts to stabilize the coalition, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and (…) Jair Lapid decided to put the bill (dissolution of parliament) to a vote in the Knesset next week,” they said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the two leaders of the ruling coalition, will submit a bill to dissolve parliament (the Knesset) to call for early elections.
“After exhausting all efforts to stabilize the coalition, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and (…) Jair Lapid decided to put the bill (dissolution of parliament) to a vote in the Knesset next week,” they said in a statement.
An official has confirmed that Lapid will take over as prime minister following the dissolution of parliament.
In June 2021, the two politicians agreed to form a coalition government, after two years of political stalemate in the country, thus ending the multi-year rule of Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu. The eight-party government, which included the right-wing liberals and, for the first time, an Arab party, was based on a marginal majority in parliament. Due to the many disagreements over political, religious and other top issues, such as the Palestinian one, it began to disintegrate when some MPs left it. He soon lost his parliamentary majority.
Bennett’s agreement with Lapid provided that the two would rotate every two years as prime minister, and that Lapid would take over as prime minister if the Knesset were to be dissolved sooner.
Once the bill is approved by parliament, Lapid will take over as prime minister until a new government is formed.
