Benjamin Netanyahu eyes comeback as Israeli government loses majority
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Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s pugnacious ex-prime minister, is planning a political comeback this Wednesday after the government led by his former protégé lost its majority last week.
Mr Netanyahu’s Right-wing Likud party is poised to raise a motion to dissolve the government following the resignation of one of its key coalition members last Thursday.
The coalition, led by Naftali Bennett, was left reeling after the lawmaker Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi stepped down in protest at extreme Right-wing rhetoric from senior figures.
It means Mr Bennett now heads a minority government, commanding just 59 seats out of the 120 in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.
The motion to dissolve the government, which will reportedly be tabled on Wednesday, could lead to Israel calling its fifth election in just three years, though it remains unclear whether the opposition has enough support to pass it.
Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has been plotting a return to the premiership since last June, when he was toppled by a patchwork coalition of Left-wingers, centrists, hardline Right-wingers and an Arab party.
The coalition was forged by centrist leader Yair Lapid and Mr Bennett, the leader of the hard-Right Yamina party, who previously considered Mr Netanyahu as a mentor before they became bitter rivals.
Photo- Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. EPA-EFE/Oded Balilty
