Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed determined to avoid new elections. Toward the end of this week, Netanyahu seems to be driving just as energetically toward the ballot box.
Netanyahu has left himself an escape hatch and could still stick with the current government. But he has evidently concluded that elections later this year are the lesser evil. In 2021, his situation could be much worse. It's better to take the risk now and cut his losses than to find himself trapped in an unholy marriage with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and forced to hand over the premiership to him in November 2021 as per their deal — or find an excuse to call elections next summer under far worse circumstances.
