Dov Lieber
WSJ, June 30, 2022
“Analysts say this is likely his [Netanyahu’s] last chance to establish a government before allied parties look for a new leader of the religious and right-wing camp.
Israeli lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament and hold new elections on Nov. 1, the country’s fifth in less than four years.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist, is expected to become the country’s caretaker prime minister at midnight under a coalition agreement. He will remain so until a new government is formed. Mr. Lapid and departing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett joined forces in 2021 to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been in office since 2009, but their coalition lasted only a little more than a year.
New elections give Mr. Netanyahu a chance to regain power. Public-opinion surveys last week show that the former premier’s Likud party is likely to win the most seats in the parliament, known as the Knesset, in the next election and Mr. Netanyahu—who is on trial for corruption charges to which he has pleaded innocent—remains popular with voters on the Israeli right. But his camp is likely to fall short of a clear majority.
Mr. Lapid at this point is the top challenger to Mr. Netanyahu, but he has no clear path to a majority coalition either.
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