BICOM

What happened: The Knesset this morning voted to disperse and set an election date for November 1. It will be Israel’s fifth election in less than four years.

• The vote was delayed due to the large number of objections and amendments that had been filed by parties across the political spectrum in the Knesset House Committee. Meretz sought to lower the electoral threshold from 3.25 per cent. Yisrael Beiteinu and Labour had pushed to pass the so-called Metro Law. The Joint List hoped to extend the process long enough so legislation extending Israeli law to West Bank settlers (that was set to end at the end of June) would expire.
• Two significant and popular bills that were ultimately not passed were the Metro Law and the Visa Waiver Programme to enter the US. The 150-billion-shekel Metro light rail project will provide a major upgrade to public transportation infrastructure in the Greater Tel Aviv area and had already been approved. The ‘Metro bill’ was designed to ensure that it would continue to be considered a national priority, which in turn would expedite construction and overcome the hurdles involved in a project that involves so many agencies. The Visa Waiver Programme would allow Israeli citizens to visit the US without having to applying for a visa.
• The opposition had sought an earlier date of 25 October as it is while ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students are still on vacation and thus more likely to vote.
• Leader of the Opposition Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the Bennett-Lapid government as a failed experiment. “You promised change, talked about healing, did an experiment, and the experiment failed. This is what happens when you take fake right-wing with the extreme left, mix it with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Joint List, that’s what you get. That’s exactly what the upcoming election is about.” He continued by asking whether there would be again “a failed Lapid government, dependent on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Joint List, and supporters of terrorism, or a broad and strong national government headed by us that will return to Israel the pride, power, and hope”.
• Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said he would again support the big tent coalition he helped form in the future. “I’d give this coalition another mandate in the future to continue.”
• Yesterday, Naftali Bennett announced that would not run for the Knesset in the next election. Ayelet Shaked, Yamina’s number two, is expected to lead the party in the upcoming election. Bennett said that it was wrong for half the people to be in mourning while the other half formed a government. He argued that the correct thing at this time would be for the two halves to form a large and good government together.

Context: The Bennett-Lapid government lost its slim majority in April and has struggled to pass legislation since.

• On the 20 June, with rumours of more rebel MKs leaving the coalition, Naftali Bennett announced that he had decided to bring down his government.
• According to Bennett, it came against the backdrop of the coalition’s inability to extend a West Bank ordinance that was due to expire at the end of the month. “Over the past weeks, we did whatever we could to save this government” Bennett said “not for us, but for the benefit of the country. I held many talks and understood that if the Knesset did not dissolve within ten days, Israel’s security would be severely harmed”.
• Labour MKs did not participate in the vote to dissolve the Knesset after no agreements are reached to pass the “Metro bill”. Labour party leader Merav Michaeli said on Twitter: “The dissolution of this Knesset was born in sin and continued with the sin of not passing the Metro Law because of personal and petty politics.”
• For in-depth analysis about that decision, read our BICOM Election 2022 Special.

Looking ahead: Bennett and Lapid will have a private handover ceremony later today at the Prime Minister’s office, though Lapid officially becomes Prime Minister only at midnight.

• Popular former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has held meetings with Benny Gantz (Blue and White), Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Merav Michaeli (Labour) about potentially entering politics.
• Early polls have shown that neither the pro-Netanyahu or anti-Netanyahu camps have enough votes to form a stable coalition.