Israel is due to hold elections early next year after the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, lost his defence minister and talks broke down in his coalition government on Friday, the Guardian reported today.
Netanyahu had met the education minister, Naftali Bennett, who wanted the defence ministry post in the rightwing government, but the meeting ended with a decision by cabinet members to hold national polls, which were previously due in November 2019.
A source close to Bennett said that at the end of a meeting it became clear that “there was a need to go to elections as soon as possible with no possibility of continuing the current government”.
Israeli media reported that Netanyhu would attempt to preserve the administration but that looked unlikely after he lost support from Bennett’s party, with few seats to hold a majority in the country’s parliament.
Government figures would agree on a date on Sunday, the report added. Israeli law demands election campaigns need to be held 90 days from when the government is dissolved.
