Israel's government collapses, triggering 4th election in 2 years

(Image credit: Yonathan Sindel/AFP via Getty Images)

last updated 23 December 2020

Israel is headed to its fourth election in under two years, following the government's collapse early Wednesday morning.

Because the Knesset, Israel's parliament, was unable to pass a budget by the midnight Tuesday deadline, the government automatically dissolved and elections were set for March 23.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will now have to see if he can fend off challenges from three former aides who broke away from his Likud party. In May, the right-wing Netanyahu formed an alliance with center-left Defense Minister Benny Gantz in order to form an "emergency" government, with Gantz named the "alternate prime minister" under the promise that he would become prime minister at the end of the year. This move alienated many of Gantz's supporters, The Associated Press reports, and his bloc is not expected to do well in the March elections.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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