Knesset Dissolution Bill Filed Day Ahead of Coalition Deadline

By Staff, Agencies

A bill for Knesset dissolution was filed in for approval on Tuesday by lawmakers from Likud and Blue and White, the two strongest factions within the parliament.

The bill sets the next elections for March 2 – a date established in a rare case of agreement between the two key parties.

On Wednesday, the lawmakers are expecting to start deliberations on the bill in the afternoon; they are supposed to cast their votes by midnight, possibly setting the stage for a third general vote in 11 months.

Wednesday's midnight also marks the deadline set for the Knesset to pick the next lawmaker to try and form a coalition government, something neither Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu nor Blue and White head Benny Gantz have been able to achieve after the September vote.

On Monday, Gantz called upon Netanyahu to waiver immunity request in the face of the indictments announced earlier by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, saying that this could result in a unity government.

In another major Monday announcement, Blue and White's second-in-command Yair Lapid announced he would give up his rotation with Gantz in a third election.    

Likud rejected Gantz's words, however, stating that Netanyahu's capacity to ask for immunity was a constitutional right.