- Yair Lapid slated to assume caretaker prime minister duties at midnight.
- Naftali Bennett’s year-long premiership ended with the dissolution of Knesset.
- Bennett headed an eight-party coalition backed by an Arab party, a first in Israeli history.
JERUSALEM: Israeli lawmakers dissolved the Knesset on Thursday, triggering the country’s fifth election in less than four years, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid slated to assume caretaker prime minister duties at midnight.
The final dissolution bill passed with 92 votes in favour and none against, ending Naftali Bennett’s year-long premiership.
Bennett headed an eight-party coalition backed by an Arab party, a first in Israeli history.
Lapid and Bennett swapped seats in the Knesset after the poll, and Lapid was embraced by his moderate Yesh Atid party.
Bennett announced he won’t run in the Nov. 1 election, in which Netanyahu will try to restore power.
Netanyahu says that his coalition of right-wing, ultra-nationalist, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties will win, but polls show that he may have trouble getting a majority in the legislature.
Prime Minister’s Office: Bennett will host Lapid for a handover ceremony on Thursday.
The outgoing premier will hand his religious-nationalist Yamina party to Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.
Avigdor Lapid, a former celebrity news anchor who was considered a lightweight when he entered politics a decade ago, would likely be Netanyahu’s main adversary.
Bennett’s partnership with Lapid in June 2021 ended Netanyahu’s record 12-year rule and passed Israel’s first state budget since 2018.
Lapid portrayed Netanyahu’s possible return to office as a national threat when the pair announced their coalition’s demise last week.
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“What we need to do today is go back to the concept of Israeli unity. Not to let dark forces tear us apart from within,” Lapid said.
Raam, which was led by Bennett, became the first Arab party since the start of the Jewish state to back an Israeli government.
Ideological differences were a threat to the alliance, which wanted to get rid of Netanyahu and end a cycle of close elections.
Bennett said the final straw was failing to renew a policy that assures 475,000 Jewish settlers live under Israeli law.
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