In December of 2018, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself, triggering early elections. Since then, the Jewish state had two inconclusive elections, both resulting in do-overs, and a third that yielded a unity government, which lasted for all of seven months. The fourth election, held on Tuesday, has proved similarly indecisive, and the possibility of another unstable and short-lived governing coalition, or even a fifth election, looms large. David Horovitz takes stock of the situation:
The pro-Netanyahu camp has 52 of the 120 Knesset seats. The anti-Netanyahu camp has 57. Naftali Bennett’s [right-wing] Yamina, possibly inclined toward Netanyahu, has seven. And the great election confounder, the conservative Islamic Ra’am party—which not one of the three ostensibly ultra-accurate TV exit polls predicted would make it into the Knesset—has four.
Dismally, Israel has been hamstrung by political crisis since way back in December 2018. . . . But its politics have not been paralyzed. These latest inconclusive elections saw Gideon Sa’ar break away from Likud, and Bennett directly challenge Netanyahu—rivals from his own side of the spectrum who rendered Tuesday’s vote the closest yet to a pure referendum on the prime minister, with forces left, right, and center all vying to oust him.
He’s not finished yet, but neither was he victorious, despite the vaccination success, which enabled the electorate to cram the supermarkets, beaches, and restaurants on election day.
Four inconclusive votes in less than two years, with no state budget and a crippled parliament, would indicate that [Israel’s] electoral system is dysfunctional. For now, at least, the pillars of our democracy are holding firm.
Read more on Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-politics-has-now-moved-from-farcical-to-surreal-insanity-is-looming/