Hard to believe, but it seems to be happening: Israel appears heading for elections in March 2021, its fourth in less than two years. Israel’s transformation into chaotic Italy was completed in the late-night hours of Dec. 21, when the opposition narrowly defeated a government-backed motion that would have postponed elections. The vote plunged Israel’s political system even deeper into chaos just seven months after formation of the monstrously large rotation government that was supposed to calm the waters.
For the first time since his 2009 reelection, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not setting the timetable or the agenda, and has lost control of the process. Things did not go the way he planned. He had been trying in recent days to push through a Knesset decision postponing the deadline for passage of the budget, which would also have meant delaying new elections; he even managed to get the Islamic party on board for the move, but his maneuver failed.
