Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid agreed a short while ago to dissolve the Israeli parliament next week. With this, the country will see its fifth election in just three-and-a-half years. In a joint statement, Bennett and Lapid said they will bring on Monday a proposal to disperse the Knesset, which means that new elections will take place at the end of October.

According to the rotation agreement, in the event the government falls because of Yamina rebel members, alternate Prime Minister Lapid will take over as head of the interim government. The joint statement noted that "Once approved, the rotation will be performed in an orderly manner. Prime Minister Bennett is now talking to party leaders." While serving as prime minister, Lapid will continue to serve as foreign minister. Bennett will serve as alternate prime minister.

Reportedly, Bennett and Lapid met briefly this afternoon. In their statement, they said they decided to dissolve the parliament after exhausting all possible avenues for stabilizing the coalition.

Reports say that the decision was taken following a meeting Bennett had last Friday with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The coalition had lost its majority mainly over the government failing to extend regulations implementing Israeli criminal law over West Bank settlements. Bennett realized that the regulations cannot be extended in any way outside Knesset approval, and thus decided to go ahead and disperse the Knesset. With the Knesset dissolved before the regulations officially expire, they will be extended automatically.