Israel’s Channel 12 reported Tuesday evening that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) has been examining a move that would eliminate the dispersion of the 21st Knesset and cancel elections scheduled for September.
The first stage of the process, which was reportedly accelerated on Tuesday, is the convening of the Knesset Presidium by the speaker and the annulment of the Knesset’s election recess.
The second stage would then be the formulation of new legislation that will create a legal basis for canceling the dispersion of the 21st Knesset.
The process would be complex due to the fact that such legislation must be passed by a majority of at least 80 out of 120 lawmakers.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) is reportedly already supporting the formation of a broad coalition of parties to create a Knesset consensus behind cancelling elections.
The Likud said in response to the story that “Prime Minister Netanyahu is taking Knesset Speaker Edelstein seriously and will review his proposal in the coming days.”
Since Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) prevented the establishment of a nationalist government following April 9 elections, the public has been mobilized against the prospect of a second election cycle in 2019.
The public opposition to new elections has actually become greater than the opposition of Likud voters to a unity government with the Blue & White party led by Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid.
While Netanyahu may have initially intended to form a unity government with Gantz and Lapid, he needed to create the impression that such an option was off the table.
Attempting to form a nationalist government with Likud’s natural partners and then dissolving the Knesset following Lieberman’s anti-ḥaredi theatrics has provided the prime minister with an opportunity to form a unity government with Blue & White rather than drag the country to another election.
Blue & White, which represents Israel’s ruling class and military establishment, positioned itself during this year’s earlier election cycle as the party most likely to cooperate with United States efforts to partition the country into two states.
Forming a government with Blue & White would make it easier for Netanyahu to accept US President Donald Trump’s new secret plan for the region – a plan that had been put on ice due to new elections.
