Israel Coalition Crisis Flares, Keeping Elections Threat Alive

(Bloomberg) -- Squabbling between Israel’s top leaders over the country’s budget flared again Monday, less than a day after they signaled readiness to defuse a crisis that could trigger a fourth election in less than two years.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed to back a bill that would defer an Aug. 25 deadline for passing the spending plan and avert the government’s collapse. But by Monday afternoon, there were signs of more trouble.

Gantz demanded that the draft law be approved within 24 hours, but Netanyahu appeared to brush him off without explicitly rejecting the timeline. The timing is significant because the main opposition party plans to submit a bill on Wednesday that would bar an indicted politician like Netanyahu, who’s been charged in three corruption cases, from leading the government.

Gantz could find himself in the awkward position of deciding whether to vote with the opposition against the leader of the government he serves in, or to gamble that the budget crisis will be resolved to his liking.

The main dispute that has hampered the approval of the spending plan is whether the budget should cover just 2020 or next year, too, as stated in the coalition agreement. While Netanyahu favors a one-year budget, Gantz insists on sticking to the accord.

A two-year plan would deny Netanyahu the ability to bring down the government over the budget next year before Gantz is to take over as premier in November 2021, under the rotation deal they grudgingly agreed to in April to avoid another vote.

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