Is Israel on its way to fourth election?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz spent over an hour sitting next to each other in the Knesset on Dec. 2. Throughout that entire time, they didn’t exchange a single word. The requisite social distancing between them and the masks they wore because of the coronavirus could not hide their mutual loathing.

The Knesset had convened for a preliminary reading of an opposition bill to dissolve itself. Already on a collision course with Netanyahu, Gantz decided that his Blue and White party would support the motion. It was his way of protesting Netanyahu’s refusal to bring the 2021 budget to the Knesset for approval. The reading passed, as Gantz promised, thanks to the support of members of his party, including its senior ministers. It was an absurd spectacle, reflecting the enduring political chaos: Members of the coalition, including senior ministers, voted against the government of which they are members.