Israeli society is dismayed and exhausted as the country moves toward the third parliamentary election in a year following the failure to form a coalition government for the second time in a row
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) Israeli society is dismayed and exhausted as the country moves toward the third parliamentary election in a year following the failure to form a coalition government for the second time in a row.Israeli lawmakers passed overnight a bill to dissolve the Knesset and hold another early general election on March 2. Another round of elections will further prolong a year-long political stalemate.
The regular parliamentary election was scheduled to take place in November of this year, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for early elections in April due to the corruption charges against him and a dispute in the government regarding a draft law for the conscription for ultra-orthodox citizens.
The April general election saw Netanyahu win but fall short of an outright majority to form a government. The prime minister explained that he was unable to form the government due to the unwillingness of former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the secular Yisrael Beytenu party, to make concessions to the religious parties that Netanyahu planned to include in the coalition.
Netanyahu's failure to form the coalition government resulted in another election in September. The vote saw Benny Gantz of the Blue and White alliance pull slightly ahead of the current prime minister but still fall short of a majority. Both Netanyahu and Gantz were given a shot at forming a government this time, but both were unsuccessful.
"I feel tired and irritated that they have not reached an agreement again. I will vote again, but I am not sure that it will solve the crisis," a 25-year-old resident of the city of Modi'in, who asked not to be named, told Sputnik.
Kirill, who moved to Israel in 2002 and now teaches at a university, echoed his sentiment, saying that Israelis were shocked by the announcement and exhausted by the continued deadlock.
"We have not had a functioning government for a year. There has been no progress on many reforms. Budgets are pending approval. Many government agencies cannot get their budgets approved. People, who need to get benefits, medicines and everything else, are suffering. Many payments of lone soldier benefits have been frozen as well because there is no budget," he stressed.
Yakov, 25, is personally affected by the ongoing political crisis, which has resulted in a one-month delay in the payment of salaries in his case.
"I am not getting paid because they cannot form a government. Our company's main client is the Ministry of Health, and because the government is not formed, budgets are still pending approval, and the ministry has nothing to pay us," he told Sputnik.
The young man, however, said that he would still vote in the next election but admitted that he would not cast his vote for either of the two main parties on the ballot Likud and the Blue and White alliance.
Kirill suggested that the turnout at the third election may be higher than in April and September.
"I think that even more people will vote. Israelis hate to feel like losers. Everyone see that Bibi is trying to fool them. People who did not cast their ballots in the first election voted in the second election. And people, who did not cast their ballots in the first and second elections, will vote in the third," he said.
He echoed the view of many Israelis who talked to Sputnik by saying that Netanyahu should resign for the political crisis in the country to end.
"There is a good saying a smart man knows when he should leave. Bibi acts like not a smart man," Kirill stressed.
Levi Tabachnikov, who has recently repatriated to Israel and wants to build a political career in the Knesset one day, described the very fact of a third election as "the triumph of democracy and something to be proud of."
"I do not quite understand those people who say that they are so 'tired of voting.' Spending 20 minutes of my time casting a ballot and deciding the fate of my own state is nothing complicated ... It makes me personally feel that my vote, like the votes of other Israelis, matters," he told Sputnik.
The young man, on the other hand, expressed disappointment with the continuing political struggle to which, among other things, would demand additional budget allocations.
"This money could be used for something useful and new, not for the same thing for the third time in a row ... I would like to see a well-functioning, well-coordinated government that will work for the benefit of the Israelis and lead us to a 'bright future,'" he noted.
Netanyahu has been involved in a corruption scandal and accused of receiving luxurious gifts, including cigars and champagne, and offering trade favors for positive coverage in a newspaper. He has repeatedly denied the allegations as a "witch hunt." After a lengthy investigation, the prime minister was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in November.
The prime minister's party, Likud, holds primaries almost every year, and the next are scheduled for December 26, where Netanyahu is set to face Central Committee Chairman Haim Katz.
Netanyahu, who turned 70 in October, has been leading the Israeli government for 10 years. He became the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history in June, beating the record set by the Jewish state's founding father, David Ben-Gurion.
