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Israel's Knesset in limbo

The decision to hold new elections in September has thrown the Israeli parliament and government into political limbo.
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The Knesset decided on May 29 to disband and to hold new elections in September. The impact of that night’s decision, in contradiction of all logic, just one month after the Israeli parliament was sworn in, is now becoming clearer. Beyond the economic damage of two election cycles in one year, the governing system has entered a period of instability.

Israel has never had a situation where a leader of party who has an assured coalition majority has failed to form a government. It has never had a leader of a party who was charged with forming a government and failed, who did not return the mandate he received to the president but led the country to a new election. Thus the 21st Knesset, which was sworn in on April 30 and disbanded on Wednesday this week, had the shortest term in the history of Israel. It actually never even started work. 

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