On Tuesday, it appeared that Israel was on its way to its fourth general election in just two years, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main partner in government Benny Gantz failed to settle a dispute over the state budget.
The Israeli parliament voted on Monday evening to reject an attempt by the two leaders to delay the deadline, which falls at midnight today, Tuesday, to approve the budget.
According to the law, failure to approve the budget on time leads to elections in March, and so far, neither cabinet nor parliament has approved the budget, and that process is almost impossible to take place in one day.
Netanyahu, the head of the right-wing Likud party, and Defense Minister Gantz, head of the centrist Blue and White party, formed a unity government in May, after three inconclusive elections since April 2019.
According to their agreement, Gantz will take over as prime minister in November and approve a budget for 2020 and 2021.
But many analysts said even during the signing of the power deal that Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, denies them, will not give up his post, and that Likud has demanded from that time for two separate budgets, while Blue and White has insisted that Netanyahu stick to the agreement.
Israel has managed its fiscal expenditures this year on the basis of the 2019 budget.
The current stalemate has pushed Israel to more economic uncertainty at the end of a year that witnessed a recession caused by the spread of the Corona virus, as the GDP is expected to shrink by 4.5 percent and the unemployment rate is 12.1 percent.
Israel began a vaccination campaign this week as it prepares to deal with a new US administration led by President-elect Joe Biden.
Analysts expected Netanyahu to hold elections in May or June of next year after the Corona crisis has subsided and the economy began to improve.
Voting in March will be fraught with greater risks for Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister, as he faces a wave of protests over corruption charges against him and his response to the pandemic.
Although opinion polls show that Netanyahu’s party will emerge as the largest bloc in parliament, they also predict a strong performance for a bloc from across the political spectrum seeking to overthrow him.
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