Netanyahu Fails to Form Government, Opts for Fresh Elections
Netanyahu Fails to Form Government, Opts for Fresh Elections
(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government by a Wednesday night deadline, as parliament began voting on a bill to dissolve itself and go to fresh elections.
It’s the first time an Israeli prime minister-designate has failed to put together a ruling coalition after an election, and the first time the country will hold two elections in the space of months. Dispersing the legislature will block President Reuven Rivlin from tapping another person -- and possibly another party -- to try to form a government.
Netanyahu’s six-week deadline to cobble together a coalition expired at midnight Wednesday. Coalition negotiations were hobbled by the failure of two presumed coalition partners to bridge their differences over a proposed military draft law.
To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Teibel in Jerusalem at ateibel@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Michael S. Arnold, Gwen Ackerman
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