Disgraced former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surged into an opinion poll lead on Wednesday as Israel moved closer to its fifth election in less than four years.
The Knesset voted unanimously to dissolve itself in preliminary legislation that will be finalized next week, after which Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as head of an interim government.
A new election became inevitable when Bennett said his fragile eight-party coalition was no longer tenable.
The vote is likely to take place in late autumn when Netanyahu aims to break his own record and win a sixth term in office. In addition, four new surveys had his right-wing Likud party and its nationalist and ultra-religious parties leading the polls.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted last year by a fragile coalition of rivals from across the right, center, and left who came together in an effort to break his more than a decadelong hold on power.
“The winds have changed,” Netanyahu, who heads Israel’s opposition and its largest right-wing party, the Likud, told reporters after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he was disbanding his government.
“We’re prepared for elections, and we are very certain of our ability to win them,” added the skilled orator who has dominated politics for a quarter of a century and sat in the prime minister’s office for a total of 15 years.
The Knesset voted unanimously to dissolve itself in preliminary legislation that will be finalized next week, after which Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over from Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as head of an interim government.
A new election became inevitable when Bennett said his fragile eight-party coalition was no longer tenable.
The vote is likely to take place in late autumn when Netanyahu aims to break his own record and win a sixth term in office. In addition, four new surveys had his right-wing Likud party and its nationalist and ultra-religious parties leading the polls.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted last year by a fragile coalition of rivals from across the right, center, and left who came together in an effort to break his more than a decadelong hold on power.
“The winds have changed,” Netanyahu, who heads Israel’s opposition and its largest right-wing party, the Likud, told reporters after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he was disbanding his government.
“We’re prepared for elections, and we are very certain of our ability to win them,” added the skilled orator who has dominated politics for a quarter of a century and sat in the prime minister’s office for a total of 15 years.
