By: Julie Stahl – CBN News; cbn.com
A political earthquake is rocking Israel after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced on Monday they are dissolving the Knesset, putting an end to their struggling coalition government. The move likely brings the country to its fifth national election in three and a half years.
The joint statement on national television pre-empted a Knesset vote scheduled for Wednesday that may have brought down the government anyway.
“My friend, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and I, decided to work together, to dissolve the Knesset, and to hold elections at an agreed time, at the same time transferring the power in an orderly manner and ensuring the national interest of the State of Israel. Even during the transition period, the state continues,” Bennett said in the primetime address.
Over the last month, the coalition destabilized with the withdrawal of coalition members. Bennett said he had fought hard to maintain the coalition.
“In recent weeks we have done everything that could be done to preserve this government, which, in our eyes, its continued existence is in the national interest. Believe me, we have turned every stone upside down, not for our sake, but for the sake of our beautiful country, for you, citizens of the State of Israel,” Bennett said.
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