The Australian | Dov Lieber and Anat Peled | 31.05.24
Is this swopping one corrupt leader for another or will something actually change – somehow I doubt it – Mark
Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz’s party submitted a bill to dissolve parliament, in a move analysts said is unlikely to lead to a vote soon but opens the door for a battle over elections as early as this summer.
Gantz, a longtime rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said earlier this month that he would take his centrist National Unity party out of the government on June 8 if the Israeli leader doesn’t articulate a plan for ending the war in Gaza and securing the enclave, among other demands.
Since then, Netanyahu has signalled he has no intention of acceding to Gantz’s demands. His Likud party said Thursday that dissolving the government would be a gift to Israel’s enemies and hurt efforts to return hostages captured in Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attacks.
Gantz, a former head of the Israeli military, took his party into the government shortly after the attacks. His party has enjoyed a comfortable lead over Likud in the polls since Oct. 7, but in recent weeks the trend has begun to move back in Netanyahu’s favour.
Gantz would need at least 61 of the 120 politicians to vote to dissolve the parliament. There are no indications he has such a majority yet.
“The National Unity party wants to show it is serious about leaving the coalition,” said Gayil Talshir, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The bill to dissolve parliament needs at least 45 days before it can begin the long legislative process to a final vote, a process which the government will likely be able to delay until the summer session of parliament comes to an end, said Chen Friedberg, a senior researcher at Israel Democracy Institute.
But the fact that the bill will be discussed over the summer leaves open the possibility of a political surprise if Netanyahu loses control over his coalition, Friedberg said.
Should Gantz leave the government, it could fuel weekly anti-government protests that have been attracting thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of people in recent months.
Gantz has argued that Israelis experienced a loss of faith in the government after Oct. 7 and that Israel should hold elections to restore faith in their leadership.
The National Unity party’s move on Thursday also comes as Gantz has been bleeding political support.
Read More…………….
