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Tel Aviv: Israel is holding was all set to call the fourth national election in two years after failing to resolve a dispute over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief governor Benny Gantz over the budget.
Parliament voted late on Monday against Tuesday’s midnight delay attempt by both men to approve the fiscal package.
Under the law, failure to pass it until then will mean that Israel will go to the polls in March, and neither the lawmakers nor the cabinet has yet passed it, a process impossible to complete in a single day.
Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud Party and heads of defence minister Gantz, the Central Blue and White faction, established a unity government in May after three inconclusive elections held after April 2019.
His treaty included Netanyahu taking over as prime minister in November 2021, and passing bi-annual budgets for 2020 and 2021.
But while that power-sharing agreement was being signed, many analysts argued that Netanyahu would not relinquish his powerful position on trial for alleged corruption, which he denied. Likud has since The budget demanded passage while Blue and White insisted on Netanyahu. Hold on to their deal.
Israel has managed its finances based on a pro-rated version of the 2019 budget so far this year.
The current fiscal deadlock has plunged Israel into more economic uncertainty at the end of a year when GDP is expected to decrease to 4.5% due to the coronavirus-induced recession, which is the unemployment rate of 12.1%.
Israel, also preparing for a new US administration led by President-Elect Joe Biden, called off its vaccination campaign this week.
Analysts saw Netanyahu pushing for elections in May or June next year, as the coronavirus crisis was expected to ease and the economy would recover.
A March vote would be risky for Israel’s longest-serving leader, who is facing a wave of street protests against his alleged corruption, which he denies, and dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic for.
Although surveys have shown Netanyahu’s party emerging as the largest faction in Parliament, surveys also speculate that a strong showing for all factions across the political spectrum will seek to unite them.