Defense Minister Benny Gantz threatens to vote to disperse the Knesset if budgets are not approved

Benny Gantz's party will vote to disperse Parliament

photo_camera REUTERS/RONEN ZVULUN - Plennary of the Knesset, Israel Parliament, in Jerusalem

Benny Gantz, the current Minister of Defense and leader of the Blue and White Party, has announced that he will vote in favor of dispersing the Israeli parliament – Knesset –, because the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is unable to approve the budgets, something that was in the government agreement between the two parties. Last night's announcement implies that the shadow of the early elections is once again hanging over Israel, which would bring the Israelis to the polls for the fourth time in two years. Benny Gantz's accusations against Netanyahu are harsh: "Netanyahu did not lie to me or deceive me, he did it to you".

Despite the Defense Minister's announcement from the Ramat Gan's Kfar Hammaccabiah hotel, he also commented that early elections could be avoided "if the person who is causing it," alluding to the Prime Minister, "avoids political maneuvering for his own benefit and acts properly”. Netanyahu, for his part, says that for the approval of the budgets, something that according to his still allied does not stop delaying, "unity is needed" and that the attitude of the Blue and White Party prevents it. Taking advantage of the confrontation between the main parts of this unity government, the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, presented the dissolution of the Knesset and the call for early elections that will be voted on in today's plenary session.

Benny Gantz

Benjamin Netanyahu, who is still facing several accusations of corruption, did not hesitate to respond to Gantz's announcement with a video urging unity, indicating that, in the midst of this pandemic situation, it was not the most appropriate thing to lead the country to an early election, whose date could be March. Netanyahu knows that the vote is only a preliminary step and that, therefore, even if finally the Blue and White Party were to vote in favor, it could still be reversed. After its approval in today's vote, the proposal to disperse parliament would go to the commission chaired by Eitan Ginzburg, of Benny Gantz's party, which could deal with it quickly and have it voted on next week, or bury it definitively, in case Gantz starts a commitment to Netanyahu to go ahead with the budgets.

In any case, this tug-of-war between the Likud and the Blue and White party has a deadline: December 23. If the 2020 budgets are not approved by that date, the Knesset will be automatically dispersed and elections will be established by law 90 days later, on March 23, 2021. Another possibility would be that, if no agreement is reached on the budgets, Parliament will be dispersed, but the elections will be postponed until June, after the expected arrival of the coronavirus vaccine.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Regardless of whether or not there are agreements, and despite the fact that it is in both parties' interests to remain in government as long as possible, the tension between the two parties is so high that early elections, whether in the next few months or somewhat later, seem to be a reality. Not surprisingly, other members of the government such as Labour Party ministers Amir Peretz and Itzik Shmuli also announced in a joint statement that they would vote for the dissolution of Parliament. "It is not possible to continue with a government in which uncertainty reigns," they indicated in the communiqué, "Instead of continued paralysis and the exchange of accusations, the best thing is to return to the ballot box", both ministers of the center-left formation sentenced.

Benny Gantz y Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu would continue to lead the government until November 2021, just one year from now, when he would be replaced by Gantz. The formation of the government included the establishment of 35 ministries, a figure considered too big, in addition to 16 vice-ministers, which would be distributed among seven different formations, representing from the ultra-orthodox sector to the political center-left, up to a total of 73 parliamentarians, a little more than half of the Knesset.

Today may be the beginning of the end of this government if the proposal to disperse it continues its legislative journey, or it may be a strong enough wake-up call for Netanyahu to come to terms, and to agree on budgets that would allow Gantz to take over the leadership of the Israeli government in a year's time. The judicial siege of the prime minister will also play an important role in the future development of the coalition.

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