UPDATE: Bibi Fires Lapid, Livni — Elections Coming

[oberliner]

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired the heads of the two center-left parties in his coalition, finance minister Yair Lapid and justice minister Tzipi Livni. He’s expected to address the media at 10:10 p.m. Israel time (3:10 Eastern) to discuss the political situation.

The dramatic event came less than a day after Netanyahu and Lapid had met Monday evening, ostensibly to patch up their differences. Sources in Lapid’s Yesh Atid party said Netanyahu had presented Lapid with a list of demands that were designed cause the talks to fail, allowing the prime minister to go to the public and point his finger at Lapid. Among them were support of the controversial Jewish Nation-State bill.

It now appears inevitable that Israel is heading to early general elections next spring. The current Knesset was elected in January 2013 for a statutory four-and-a-half year term that would end in June 2017.

http://blogs.forward.com/jj-goldberg/#story-1#ixzz3KmbThTyo

[sabbat hunter]

1. hmmmm

I thought that Bibi would have gone for Likud primaries first before calling for new elections. That way he could have firmed up his position within his own party, which is being challenged right now.


Livini, Lapid's parties along with meretz, labor need to unify IMMEDIATELY under one candidate and one party list to try and present a unified front, and a powerful alternative to Bibi, then watch Bibi and Lieberman split the right wing vote.
I think if they do that, they could get the most seats in Knesset, then form a stable center-left coalition.

[oberliner]

3. I think there is a chance

Unfortunately they probably need one of the religious parties to make it work.

[geek tragedy]

6. Unfortunately, it's more likely that Likud, Jewish Home, and Yisrael Beitenu will form a solid

coalition based on the unifying theme of smashing the left and the Arabs.

Naftali Bennett is the future of Israel.

[sabbat hunter]

7. Unlikely

at least during the election. Lieberman wants the PM job, so he will not unify his party with Likud this go around. They might form a coalition AFTER the election.

But my premise is that the center-left parties unify for one party list BEFORE the elections, like Likud and Yisrael Beitenu did last time around.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Well this is interesting.

Sure hope BiBi's detractors finally get this Romney want-to-be out the door. Watch what goes down in Iran and the West Bank in the next week or so. Will Bibi do something stupid,me thinks so.

[sabbat hunter]

4. Can the president of Israel

under one of the few powers he has, instead of allowing new elections, ask for a different party to try to form a coalition government?


Under the basic law, the Israeli president must consent to the dissolution of the government when it has lost its majority. Bibi fired Lapid and Livini, but there has been no vote of confidence in the government, which is usually required to dissolve government. That loophole could allow Rivilin to request a new coalition be assembled without new elections.

[shaayecanaan]

5. He can ask a frog to dance if he likes

but it probably won't. Simply asking someone to form government means nothing unless that person can actually obtain the confidence of a majority of MKs.

The equivalent parliamentary gesture is "being invited to kiss hands". Because the Queen has a certain traditional and cultural gravitas, her invitation to kiss hands is generally persuasive in getting different parties to form a coalition. I doubt that being asked by a president would mean very much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kissing_hands

[LeftInTX]

8. How often does this happen?

I read about this online and was kinda shocked. (I just thought that Israel was more democratic)
However, I told my husband and he said it happens fairly frequently in Israel.

Thanks in advance

[sabbat hunter]

9. Israel

has a history of unstable coalitions, early elections as a result. The average government lasts about 3.2 years, with 4 years the length a term of office should last.

No single party has won a majority of seats in an election for knesset. Coalitions have always been needed.
Prior to the upcoming election only 1% of the vote got your party a seat in the Knesset. That led to a very fractured parliament, requiring multiple parties to form a coalition. Now that may sound more democratic, but in reality it leads to small parties having power beyond their true numbers, as they were needed to form a government.

[LeftInTX]

10. Thks

[bemildred]

11. It often happens in the aftermath of these little wars too.

Especially if they don't go well. Golda and the two Ehuds come to mind immediately. Golda after the 1973 war with Egypt, the two Ehuds after the Second Lebanon War. Now we have Bibi after the nth Gaza War, I'm not sure how many gaza Wars there are, that seems murky. I figured about two weeks into the last Gaza War, about the time the full meaning of the tunnels came into view, that it was going to cost Bibi his job. So here we are. Except he hasn't really lost it yet.

[sabbat hunter]

12. With Golda

she was blamed for the surprise attack and not being better prepared. they had elections in late 1973 (which labor won) before she resigned as PM in 1974.

The 1973 election was a regularly scheduled one, as the last election was in 1969. (technically it was postponed 2 months due to the war, but still was a normal term of office)

The war in Lebanon was in 1982, with the next election in 1984 which was also normally scheduled (1984 ended in a dead heat between labor and likud leading to a national unity government with Peres, shamir rotating as PM each serving 2 years)

The 2006 election came about mainly because of the split in Likud, when Sharon formed a new party.

[bemildred]

13. Yes, it is indeed messy. nt