Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to delay another early election as much as possible in the hope of winning time to get a chance to secure more seats and not repeat the paralysis of the current coalition government, Ksenia Svetlova, a former member of the Israeli parliament, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to delay another early election as much as possible in the hope of winning time to get a chance to secure more seats and not repeat the paralysis of the current coalition government, Ksenia Svetlova, a former member of the Israeli parliament, told Sputnik.
On Wednesday, the Israeli parliament in preliminary reading passed a bill on self-dissolution. The bill needs three readings to come into law and bring about early elections � the fourth in two years. Netanyahu's coalition partner, the Blue and White alliance, backed the initiative, which had been introduced amid the criticism of the government's handling of the coronavirus and its economic fallout. Netanyahu asserts that there is no need for new elections amid the pandemic and urges his main coalition partner to change its stance.
"Netanyahu, I believe, will prefer to wait until the summer at least with the elections because right now we are in the midst of the corona crisis. There is no desire to hold the elections immediately. Theoretically, they could be held in March, but if the Knesset continues to deliberate on the bill for another 2-3 weeks, the elections will be moved to May. The postponement of the elections until May will benefit Netanyahu who would have a chance not only to gain more seats but also to form a government afterwards," Svetlova said.
According to the ex-lawmaker, "what is clear" is that the current government is "dead already," regardless of when elections happen.
"It was born in pain and if will not last for much longer," she added.
According to the lawmaker, the chances for the country to head toward new snap elections are "quite high," but next readings of the bill would take time and the process "will not be moving very quickly."
Benny Gantz's alliance, she went on, is unlikely interested in having elections "right now" either.
"I don't think that the Blue and White party that comprises the government right now, is interested in any way in the elections right now because they lost all� their leverage and probably will be crushed if the elections are held some time soon. Right now, according to the polls, they would gain only 8-9 seats in the Knesset. Currently, they hold 18 seats," she added, not ruling out that it would strike "some kind of deal" with Netanyahu's Likud party.
The current coalition government was sworn in in May, ending the longest political stalemate in Israel's history that led to three inconclusive elections in less than a year. Under the deal, Netanyahu is set to lead the unity government for 18 months before handing the office over to Defense Minister Gantz in November 2021.
