The Possibility of Early Elections in Israel

It was recently reported in Al Jazeera that there is a possibility of early domestic elections in Israel. According to the report, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, embroiled in a Cabinet crisis, said on Monday he would call early national elections unless rebellious ministers stop attacking government policies. His coalition, dominated by the right-wing, is split on a range of issues, including the 2015 budget, high living costs, policy towards the Palestinians and a Jewish nation-state bill that critics say discriminates against Israel’s Palestinian minority.”

One has to remember that in Israel, individuals vote across the entire country; there are no set voting districts. Furthermore, the government often requires coalitions of various parties. Thus, candidate and party electoral strategies work based off of this electoral structure, and do have to often make at least some concessions with regards to being a part of the coalition government. Here, it seems that these issues are quite contested amongst the different parities. For example, the “Jewish-nation state bill” is one in which has split many politicians, which could fracture the existing coalition government. There have also been questions regarding the overall approach to the peace process with Palestine, as well as domestic issues such as employment. Thus, when there is significant contrast with regards to members within the coalition, the potential for dissolving that government, and calling for new elections (with hopes for a new coalition) is quite possible. It will be interesting to see if the parties within the governing coalition are able to come to some agreement, or if the differences continue to remain, which in turn, may in fact lead to a new election. Netanyahu is calling for officials to come together on issues such as security and the economy, although it remains to be seen whether they will, particularly given the recent controversial policies that have been pushed forward by some in the government. But he has tried to meet with leaders such as Finance Minister Yair Lapid, as well as Justice Minister Yzipi Livni, how have been critical of issue regarding the budget (Lapid), as well as the nation-state bill (Livni).