Israel’s next general election will likely be held early, probably this coming May, Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) predicted on Wednesday.
Speaking with Israel Radio, Bennett said the Knesset was unlikely to serve out its full term, which is set to end in November 2019, with new elections probable in this coming spring.
Bennett said the current coalition government was ‘flimsy’ since it was reduced from a 66-member majority in the 120-seat Knesset to a narrow majority of 61 after former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman bolted earlier this month.
“The coalition is flimsy. The moment Liberman left the government, he marked the beginning of its demise.”
“My feeling is that new elections will be held in May. The government worked well in a lot of areas, in my opinion. But in the end, all good things require elections.”
The Education Minister hit Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, accusing him of harming efforts to advance the coalition’s ‘right-wing agenda’ by focusing on legislation aimed at securing Netanyahu’s future as premier.
“I think that advancing all of the partisan [right-wing] bills is the right thing to do, but the thing that has impeded that is the fact that the Prime Minister wants to advance the ‘Sa’ar Law’. The government needs to pass laws that advance the right-wing agenda. But what’s happened is [right-wing laws] are being shelved to make way for a law dealing with personal concerns.”
The so-called Sa’ar Law has been advanced by the Prime Minister, in a bid to prevent President Reuven Rivlin from nominating another Likud member as premier following the next election.
Under current Israeli law, the president is able to nominate whomever he believes is most likely to be able to form a stable governing coalition. That nominee then is given time to attempt to form a majority coalition.
While the president has traditionally nominated party leaders, senior Likud officials have expressed concerns that given the police recommendation to indict Netanyahu on corruption charges, President Rivlin, a long-time rival of Netanyahu, could nominate a different Likud member as premier.
Former minister Gideon Saar, who has planned to return to the Knesset after a four-year hiatus from politics, is often cited as a possible choice for Rivlin in place of Netanyahu.
The Sa’ar Law would obligate the president to choose the chief of the party he believes is most likely to be able to form a stable government.