Israeli lawmakers on Thursday voted to dissolve the Parliament after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government following elections held in April, reported Reuters. Netanyahu will now remain in power until fresh elections are held on September 17.
The lawmakers voted 74-45 in favour of dissolving the parliament. It is the first time in Israel’s history that a prime minister-designate has failed to form a coalition, according to BBC.
“We’ll run a sharp, clear election campaign which will bring us victory,” Netanyahu told reporters after the vote. “We’ll win, we’ll win and the public will win.”
In the elections in held in April, Netanyahu’s Likud Party won 35 out of 120 seats. His party then tried to join hands with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party. But talks failed after former Defence Minister Lieberman demanded that the military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students be changed.
Israel has always had coalition governments. No party has ever won majority in the country’s 120-seat parliament.
Netanyahu, who faces charges of corruption, had promised to annex the West Bank if he is reelected. On March 1, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit recommended the prime minister be indicted on breach of trust and bribery charges in three separate cases.
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