The Israeli Knesset voted today to hold new elections on Sept. 17, just five months after the last one, after the head of the leading party failed to build a governing coalition for the first time in the nation’s history.
Why it matters: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to attract enough support after his Likud Party and its right-wing allies won the April 9 Knesset elections threatens political gridlock just as the country faces daunting domestic and international challenges, including rising tensions with Iran and the imminent start of US-led negotiations on a peace deal with the Palestinians.
