Israel is to hold its second election this year after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government before a midnight deadline.

Israel's parliament voted to dissolve itself - less than two months after the last general election.

The new vote is expected to be held in September.

"We will run a sharp, clear election campaign which will bring us victory," said Mr Netanyahu. "We will win, we will win and the public will win."

The vote to dissolve the Knesset dealt a blow to Mr Netanyahu, who appeared to capture a fourth consecutive term in April's election.

But infighting among his ultra-orthodox and secular ultra-nationalist allies, and disagreement about proposals to protect Mr Netanyahu from prosecution sank his efforts to form a coalition.

His party then brought forward a bill to dissolve parliament, rather than concede the task of forming a government to a rival.

In April, Mr Netanyahu's Likud Party won 35 of the 120 seats on offer in the Knesset, despite facing possible indictment in three cases of corruption.

He denies the corruption charges, and accused his opponents of mounting a witch hunt against him. </s> With the failure to deliver any results, coalition talks between the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, the right-wing and religious allies halted and forced Israel to mark history with an announcement of a new election after Mr. Netanyahu recently avoided defeat on a small margin.

The fresh vote will force Mr. Netanyahu back to the campaign trail just weeks after he narrowly won a presidential mandate following a bruising contest with an upstart party, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The new election date is locked at September 17, 2019, with the present PM being as an interim leader to maintain government affairs. </s> Israel is heading for an unprecedented second election in less than six months after Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition before a Wednesday night deadline and instead forced through a bill to dissolve parliament.

Mr Netanyahu won the most votes in April’s election but has spent the last six weeks struggling to convince smaller Right-wing parties to join his coalition and help him form a majority government.

After a series of frantic last-ditch negotiations broke down, a stony-faced Mr Netanyahu returned to parliament shortly before midnight on Wednesday and voted in favour of a bill to hold new elections on September 17.

The bill passed 74-45. Moments after the vote, Mr Netanyahu condemned the new elections as “superfluous, wasteful elections that nobody needs and nobody wants because the people already spoke”.

Israel has never before been forced to hold two elections in a single year and the political chaos is a potentially seriously blow to Mr Netanyahu, who managed to win the April elections despite facing criminal corruption charges. </s> (CNN) The leaders of Israel's coalition government decided on Monday to dissolve the Knesset and hold early elections in April, nearly eight months earlier than required by law.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition governs with a razor-thin majority, and has been struggling to pass a new bill that would extend the military draft to ultra-Orthodox Jewish students.

At a press conference at the Knesset on Monday, Netanyahu confirmed "the heads of the coalition parties decided, in agreement and unanimously, to disperse the Knesset and call for new elections at the beginning of April."

The speaker of the Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, announced the elections would be held on April 9.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the heads of the coalition parties decided "unanimously" to hold early elections in April.

Government battling difficulties

Read More </s> Israeli lawmakers on Thursday voted to dissolve the Parliament after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government following elections held in April, reported Reuters. Netanyahu will now remain in power until fresh elections are held on September 17.

The lawmakers voted 74-45 in favour of dissolving the parliament. It is the first time in Israel’s history that a prime minister-designate has failed to form a coalition, according to BBC.

“We’ll run a sharp, clear election campaign which will bring us victory,” Netanyahu told reporters after the vote. “We’ll win, we’ll win and the public will win.”

In the elections in held in April, Netanyahu’s Likud Party won 35 out of 120 seats. His party then tried to join hands with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party. But talks failed after former Defence Minister Lieberman demanded that the military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students be changed.

Israel has always had coalition governments. No party has ever won majority in the country’s 120-seat parliament.

Netanyahu, who faces charges of corruption, had promised to annex the West Bank if he is reelected. On March 1, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit recommended the prime minister be indicted on breach of trust and bribery charges in three separate cases. </s> Israel’s parliament voted to dissolve itself early Thursday, sending the country to an unprecedented second snap election this year as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition before a midnight deadline.

The dramatic vote, less than two months after parliamentary elections, marked a setback for Netanyahu and sent the longtime leader’s future into turmoil.

Netanyahu, who has led Israel for the past decade, had appeared to capture a fourth consecutive term in the April 9 election. 



But infighting among his allies, and disagreements over proposed bills to protect Netanyahu from prosecution stymied his efforts to put together a majority coalition.

Rather than concede that task to one of his rivals, Netanyahu’s Likud party advanced a bill to dissolve parliament and send the country to the polls for a second time this year.

“I didn’t spare any effort to avoid unnecessary elections,” Netanyahu said after the vote, lashing out at an ally-turned-rival, Avigdor Lieberman, who refused the prime minister’s offers to join the government.

He said the country was being forced to hold “unnecessary, wasteful elections because the people had their say. They didn’t have their say enough for what Mr. Lieberman wants.”

Had the deadline passed without the vote, Israel’s president would have given another lawmaker, most likely opposition leader Benny Gantz, an opportunity to put together a coalition.

After the vote, Gantz angrily accused Netanyahu of choosing self-preservation over allowing the country’s political process to run its course.

Gantz said that Netanyahu opted for “three crazy months” of a new campaign and millions of wasted dollars over new elections because he is “legally incapacitated” by looming indictments. “There is no other reason,” Gantz said.

The country now plunges into a new election campaign that will last at least three months under Israeli law. With much of the country on vacation in late August, a tentative date of Sept. 17 was set.

The campaign looks to complicate Netanyahu’s precarious legal standing. Israel’s attorney general has recommended pressing criminal charges against him in three separate corruption cases, pending a hearing scheduled for October.

Even if Netanyahu wins the election, it is unlikely he will be able to form a government and lock down the required political support for an immunity deal before an expected indictment. That would force him to stand trial and put heavy pressure on him to step aside.

The political uncertainty could also spell trouble for the White House’s Mideast peace efforts. The U.S. has scheduled a conference next month in Bahrain to unveil what it says is the first phase of its peace plan, an initiative aimed at drawing investment into the Palestinian territories.

With the Palestinians, who accuse the US of being unfairly biased toward Israel, opposed to the plan, and Netanyahu preoccupied with re-election, it remains unclear how the Americans will be able to proceed. President Donald Trump’s top Mideast adviser, son-in-law Jared Kushner, was in Israel and scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday.

That Netanyahu struggled to secure a majority coalition in the 120-seat parliament was a shocking turn of events for the country’s dominating political figure.

In the April 9 vote, Likud and its hardline nationalist and religious parties captured a majority of 65 seats.

The immediate cause of the crisis was his dispute with Lieberman, a former aide who leads the small Yisrael Beitenu faction.

The men had clashed over Lieberman’s demand to subject ultra-Orthodox religious males to the military draft, which is compulsory for most Jewish males. Without Lieberman’s five Knesset seats, Netanyahu had no parliamentary majority.

But the deeper issue is connected to Netanyahu’s legal troubles. Facing a likely indictment, he had pushed his coalition partners to pass legislation that would grant him immunity and curb the powers of the country’s Supreme Court.

Opposition parties strongly oppose granting Netanyahu immunity, robbing him of any alternatives to Lieberman as he tried to form a coalition </s> Israel will hold early election in April, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.

“The leaders of the coalition decided unanimously to dissolve parliament and go to a new election in early April,” the spokesman said on Twitter.

The move came after a meeting between the heads of the Israeli coalition.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the new polls will be held on April 9.

The last Israeli general elections were held in May 2015, while the upcoming elections had been expected to be held in November.

Netanyahu, the head of the Likud party, has led the current coalition, which includes the right-wing parties of the Jewish House, Kulanu, Shas and United Torah Judaism.

Yisrael Beitenu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, has recently withdrawn from the governing coalition.

The decision to call early elections came after a dispute over a compulsory military service bill as United Torah Judaism vowed to withdraw from the coalition if the Knesset voted in favor of the draft law.

Army service is mandatory for all Israeli citizens (three years for men and two years for women), with the exception of members of the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews account for roughly 10 percent of Israel's total population. They tend to live in closed communities and adhere to strict interpretations of Jewish religious law. </s> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired his education and justice ministers, days after parliament voted to hold new elections.

An official in Netanyahu's office confirmed that Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, two hawkish former allies, were dismissed from the interim government. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

There was no explanation for Sunday's firings.

Last week Israel's parliament voted to hold early elections, less than two months after April's polls, as Netanyahu failed to muster a governing coalition.

Shaked, the justice minister, and Bennett, the education minister, have not said if they are running in September's election. Their New Right party failed to enter parliament in April, but they remained on the job pending formation of a new government. </s> Israel will hold early general elections in April and the Knesset will be dissolved, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party said Monday.

Netanyahu's coalition has been plagued by internal divisions for months, including the recent resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in protest of what he perceived to be the government's weak response to rocket attacks from Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The prime minister's Likud party also faces criticism from Ultra Orthodox Jews over a new bill which would extend the military draft to include them. Ultra Orthodox Jews have been exempted from the draft for years as they fear conscription could lead to immersion in secularism.

General elections were initially scheduled to be held in November of 2019.

Despite the disagreements, Netanyahu seems well placed to win another term as Israel's prime minister, which would make him the country's longest-serving leader. However, he faces potential criminal charges over corruption allegations, and police have recommended he be indicted on bribery allegations. The Justice Ministry announced Wednesday that deliberations continued as the country eagerly awaits a decision from the attorney general.

Netanyahu has angrily dismissed the allegations against him, emulating his ally U.S. President Donald Trump in calling them a "witch hunt" against him.

The dissolving of parliament and scheduling of early elections is far from rare in Israel. The last time a government served its full term was in 1988, according to the Associated Press. Since then, similar coalition crises have led to early elections.
Israel is expected to hold a new election on September 17 as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to form a government.