23rd Knesset

A worker prepares ballot boxes March 25, 2019 at the Central Elections Committee warehouse in Shoham, before they are shipped to polling stations for the April 9 Israeli election. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

December 23, 2020, 12:00 am

Israel calls 4th election in 2 years as Netanyahu-Gantz coalition collapses

New vote set for March 23 after ‘unity’ government crumbles in just 7 months; Netanyahu promises huge win, but polls suggest tough race, with main threat from parties to his right

By Raoul Wootliff

Lawmakers vote against a bill to delay the budget deadline on December 22, 2020 (Danny Shem Tov/ Knesset Spokesperson)

December 22, 2020, 7:34 pm

Ministers okay interim financial package as new elections set to be triggered

Knesset and cabinet convene for likely last time before Israel heads into 4th campaign season in 2 years; Likud MKs attempt to block election funding for Gideon Sa’ar’s party

By TOI staff

Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh (Hadash) addresses the Knesset during a vote dissolving Israel's government on December 2, 2020 (Credit: Knesset spokesperson)

December 2, 2020, 9:39 pm

Ra’am’s refusal to back Knesset break-up widens rift in mainly Arab Joint List

Balad MK calls decision by Ra’am faction leader Mansour Abbas to skip out on vote and break ranks with rest of alliance ‘a blow to the platform of the Joint List’

By Aaron Boxerman

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz (left) is seen with his back to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Knesset approves a preliminary reading of a bill to dissolve parliament, December 2, 2020 (Danny Shem-Tov / Knesset spokesperson's office)

December 2, 2020, 3:40 pm

Knesset advances motion to disband, moving toward 4th elections in 2 years

Opposition motion passes 61-54 after support from Blue and White, but must still pass three more readings before new national vote called

By Michael Bachner

Israeli activists wear masks of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Finance Minister Israel Katz as they protest against the government, at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, December 2, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

December 2, 2020, 12:36 pm

Knesset set to back preliminary motion to dissolve itself, call early elections

Majority all but guaranteed for opposition bill after Blue and White pledges support; poll predicts government not headed by Netanyahu near-impossible in next Knesset

By Michael Bachner

Then-Blue and White party leaders Benny Gantz, right, and Yair Lapid at a faction meeting at the opening of the 22nd Knesset, in Jerusalem on October 3, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

December 2, 2020, 12:43 am

Lapid praises ex-partner Gantz for vowing to back bill to dissolve Knesset

Other opposition MKs bash Blue and White chief for joining Netanyahu-led government in the first place; Likud whip accuses defense minister of hitting ‘new low’

By TOI staff

Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh (Avishai Finkelstein)

November 12, 2020, 5:59 pm

How anti-Semitism and hate on social media is a chance to educate

Canada-raised perennial optimist MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh explains in an exclusive Behind the Headlines interview that the pandemic is a chance to make long-awaited changes

By Haviv Rettig Gur

Benny Gantz, center, and Benjamin Netanyahu, right, at the Knesset on November 10, 2020. (Shmulik Grossman/Knesset spokesperson)

November 10, 2020, 8:53 pm

With large majority, Knesset approves normalization agreement with Bahrain

Sixty-two MKs vote in favor and 14 — all from Joint List — against establishment of diplomatic ties with tiny Gulf nation; deal soon to be ratified by cabinet

By Raphael Ahren

Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani delivers a statement upon the arrival of a US-Israeli delegation in the Bahrain International Airport on October 18, 2020. (RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP)

November 10, 2020, 6:14 pm

Bahraini foreign minister planning visit, Israel announces

Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani to become tiny Gulf kingdom’s first minister to make a public trip to the Jewish state; no confirmation from Manama

By Raphael Ahren

Left to right: Members of the Joint List party MKs Osama Saadi, Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas arrive for a consultation with President Reuven Rivlin on who he should task with trying to form a new government, in Jerusalem on September 22, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

October 30, 2020, 7:13 am

When Israel’s Arabs began to demand their own ‘normalization’ deal

Mansour Abbas, who drew fire from his opposition colleagues for helping Likud overturn a Knesset vote last week, is a conservative Muslim urging ‘pragmatic’ Arab Israeli politics

By Haviv Rettig Gur

Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset plenum on August 24, 2020. (Knesset Spokesperson's Office)

October 21, 2020, 12:55 am

In rare unity display, Likud, Blue and White said to agree to torpedo inquiries

Partners in dysfunctional coalition to shoot down proposal to investigate justice system, call for commission into so-called submarine affair at Wednesday Knesset plenum

By TOI staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset on March 26, 2020. (Knesset)

October 16, 2020, 6:09 am

The Knesset winter session is off to a running start. On a treadmill

While politicians tussle and pontificate, their failure to pass a budget and appoint top officials leaves government agencies unable to tackle the worst fallout of the pandemic

By Haviv Rettig Gur

US President Donald Trump, center, with from left, Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, September 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

October 15, 2020, 9:04 pm

Knesset approves UAE normalization 80-13; mainly Arab party is sole opposition

Overwhelming support for historic peace agreement, which now heads to cabinet for final ratification

By Raphael Ahren

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Knesset on October 15 ahead of a vote on ratifying Israel's normalization agreement with the United Arab Emirates (Gideon Sharon/Knesset Spokesperson)

October 15, 2020, 12:43 pm

Netanyahu hails ‘warm peace’ with UAE as Knesset debates normalization deal

PM says no hidden annexes or secret additions to accord signed in DC; opposition leader Lapid calls agreement ‘excellent’ but ex-defense minister Ya’alon to boycott vote

By Raphael Ahren

Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seen during a vote at the Knesset on August 24, 2020. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)

October 14, 2020, 3:08 pm

LISTEN: Top Israeli politicians are breaking the law — and nobody cares

ToI’s senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur explains why a key government transparency measure is being ignored by a third of the cabinet — including Netanyahu and Gantz

By TOI staff