Netanyahu opposition parties unite to back bill blocking his re-election

(Image credit: Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Israel's legislature has the unity it needs to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from keeping his job.

Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman announced Thursday that his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, will vote to support a bill that would prevent Knesset members who have been indicted for a crime from forming a coalition. This will give the bill majority support, ultimately blocking Netanyahu from forming the coalition he needs to retain his leadership, Haaretz reports.

Israel underwent its third election, but both Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and his top rival Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan party have failed to collect the 61 seats they need to form coalition governments once again. Yet Gantz also introduced the bill blocking an indicted member from forming that coalition, and with the backing of everyone who isn't in Likud, it'll have the 62 votes it needs to pass. Netanyahu was indicted about a year ago on corruption charges, but easily retained his spot as Likud party head.

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Lieberman also said he'd back a second bill introducing term limits for prime ministers — something Netanyahu, who is seeking his fifth term, would be subject to.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.