Israel to vote on March 2, third political elections in less than a year

With 94 votes in favor and none against, the deputies approved the motion that formalizes the dissolution of Parliament. The situation of uncertainty and fragmentation throughout the political scene is confirmed. TLast minute appeals by Netanyahu and Gantz, joint in the polls, were of no use.


Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Israel will go to the vote next March 2 for the third political elections in less than a year, confirming a climate of deep uncertainty and fragmentation in the country.

At midnight local time in fact the deadline for the formation of a parliamentary majority (61 seats out of the 120 total of the Knesset) expired, after the two unsuccessful attempts of the past two weeks of the two main rivals, Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz.

With 94 votes in favor and none against, the deputies approved a motion that formalizes the dissolution of the Parliament and fixes the new election date. A decision that comes just a few hours after the deadline for the formation of an executive, the result of the September elections that confirmed the deadlock.

In April Netanyahu won the election, but failed to form a majority in the Knesset, where at least 61 seats out of a total of 120 are needed. The subsequent September 17 vote confirmed the deadlock, which effectively prevented one of the two most important sides to create a government.

Netanyahu had offered Gantz a unit executive and an alternation at the helm, taking the first two years of his term to survive on a political level and escape the trials, which could start in the coming months. The proposal was rejected by the centrist leader, in a context of deep rift around the figure of the outgoing premier who remains the main obstacle to the birth of a national unity government.

As head of the government, Netanyahu has no legal obligation to resign following an indictment and, while in office, may request immunity. Holding the role ad interim, he can remain in office until a new government is formed, a process that can last several months.

On the evening of 10 December Netanyahu and Gantz affirmed, without too much conviction, the intention to form a government of national unity. The centrist leader re-launched the party's efforts to "find ways" of forming an executive "without denying the principles" that led us into politics. The head of the right wing called for "serious discussions" for the formation of an executive. Words fallen into the void.