By COLlive reporter
Members of Israel’s coalition government, comprised of right-wing and religious parties, unanimously voted on Monday afternoon to dissolve the Knesset and go to early elections this coming spring.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament since former defense minister Avigdor Liberman resigned over a Gaza ceasefire in November, AFP reported.
National elections for the 21st Knesset will be held on the 4th of Nissan – April 9th, 2019. The head of the party which wins the most seats is called upon by the president to form a coalition.
In Likud party meeting, Netanyahu welcomed the move, saying that he hopes the current coalition, seen as the most right-wing in Israel’s history, serves as the “core” for the next one, AFP said.
Netanyahu, who is under investigation for corruption probes, said he welcomed the elections now that the threat of Hezbollah’s terror attack tunnels has been dealt with.
“Six weeks ago, when the possibility of bringing down the government was before us, I said that we have urgent security matters to deal with,” Netanyahu said.
“I couldn’t reveal then what we did a couple of weeks later, which is to start this big operation to neutralize completely the terror tunnels of Hezbollah. That’s what we’ve done since. It’s a pretty good reason. You want to get that done.
“It was right not to go to elections then, and I think it’s perfectly sensible to go to elections now,” the Prime Minister added, according to IsraelNationalNews.com.
VIDEO:
VIDEO: Full remarks of Prime Minister Netanyahu on Early Elections, Security
