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Raoul Wootliff
Raoul Wootliff
Raoul Wootliff is the The Times of Israel's political correspondent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, Transportation Minister Israel Katz, center, and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in the Knesset, Jerusalem, May 30, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 31, 2019, 2:16 am
Likud minister claims Liberman tried to get Kahlon to turn his back on Netanyahu
Foreign Minister Israel Katz says Yisrael Beytenu chief blew up coalition talks because he hoped to enable someone else to form a government
By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to the media at the Orient Hotel in Jerusalem, on May 30, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
May 30, 2019, 9:06 pm
Netanyahu: Liberman ‘obsessed’ with sabotaging right-wing governments
PM launches tirade against Yisrael Beytenu leader who thwarted his efforts to form government, accuses him of systemically destroying right-wing camp, says he ‘cannot be trusted’
By Raoul Wootliff
Shas leader Aryeh Deri during a party faction meeting in the Knesset on May 30, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2019, 8:00 pm
Deri accuses Liberman of anti-Semitism, then claims Russians don’t serve state
Shas chairman says Yisrael Beytenu chief tried to extort Netanyahu with ‘delusional demands’ and used ultra-Orthodox public in bid to oust PM
By Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks to a party meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 29, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2019, 8:58 am
The final results of April’s election are in: No one won, Netanyahu lost
He may want the public to focus on Liberman, but the bottom line is that, for the prime minister, calling a new national vote is an admission of failure
By Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media at the Knesset, in Jerusalem on May 29, 2019 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2019, 1:31 am
Netanyahu slams Liberman: He deceived the voters, is part of the Left
As Knesset decides Israel will go to the polls after PM fails to form coalition, PM blames Yisrael Beytenu leader, says Likud will win in September
By TOI staff and Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits before a vote on a bill to dissolve the Knesset on May 29, 2019, at the Knesset in Jerusalem. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
May 30, 2019, 1:06 am
Knesset votes for new elections on September 17 after PM fails to form coalition
In a shocking turn of events, Netanyahu unable to secure a majority coalition in parliament; Likud-drafted motion to dissolve Knesset passes 74-45 in late-night vote
By Tamar Pileggi and Raoul Wootliff
Blue and White party leaders (R-L) Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid, Moshe Ya'alon, and Gabi Ashkenazi, during a faction meeting at the Knesset on May 20, 2019. (Hadas Parush /Flash90)
May 29, 2019, 9:48 pm
Likud tries in vain to break up Blue and White to gain Knesset majority
Several MKs encouraged to join Netanyahu-led coalition in return for policies important to their constituencies, and/or senior ministerial portfolios
By Raoul Wootliff
Labor Party chairman Avi Gabbay addresses supporters and media, as the results in the elections are announced at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, on April 9, 2019. (Flash90)
May 29, 2019, 8:53 pm
Labor chief admits weighing, then rejecting, last-minute offer to join coalition
Avi Gabbay says party received Likud proposal on Tuesday which included ministries, ‘steps to safeguard democracy,’ but decided against the move
By Raoul Wootliff
Israel Katz attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on February 17, 2019. (Sebastian Scheiner/Pool/AFP)
May 29, 2019, 8:40 pm
With temporary term up, Netanyahu makes Israel Katz official foreign minister
Even with possibility of new elections looming, appointment of top diplomat made permanent; PM gave up portfolio in response to court petition
By Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (front) and former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman sit in the Knesset, May 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)
May 29, 2019, 5:53 pm
Hours before deadline, Likud accuses Liberman of seeking to replace Netanyahu
With clock ticking for Netanyahu to build a coalition, compromise seems off the table, as Knesset debates dissolution bill to call new elections
By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks to a party meeting in the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 29, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 29, 2019, 2:08 pm
Israel to go back to polls on Sept. 17, after Netanyahu fails to build coalition
Arab parties, Yisrael Beytenu join Likud to help dissolve Knesset after prospective coalition partners balk at PM’s last ditch compromise deal over conscription bill
By Raoul Wootliff
Former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak (Miriam Alster/FLASH90
May 23, 2019, 10:16 pm
Former Supreme Court president Barak: I’d quit if they passed the ‘override’ law
Justices can’t protect Israel’s democracy if they don’t have the tools, warns ex-court head, castigating Netanyahu for planning ‘dramatic change’ to avoid prosecution for graft
By TOI staff and Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with then-health minister Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism party, left, at the Knesset on March 28, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90/File)
May 22, 2019, 10:07 pm
Report: ‘Override’ law to save PM from trial will be part of coalition deal
In constitutional earthquake, next Netanyahu government said set to empower MKs to relegislate laws Supreme Court strikes down, bar judges from overturning administrative decisions
By TOI staff and Raoul Wootliff
(L-R) Deputy Health Minister and United Torah Judaism leader Ya'akov Litzman; Likud MK and former coalition chairman David Bitan; Interior Minister and Shas leader Aryeh Deri; and Likud Welfare Minister Haim Katz. (All photos by Flash90)
May 22, 2019, 6:01 pm
Not just Netanyahu: The other 4 lawmakers who may need immunity from prosecution
Gambit to save PM could also help prevent corruption charges against Shas leader Deri, Likud’s Haim Katz and David Bitan; UTJ chief Litzman accused of aiding alleged pedophiles
By Raoul Wootliff
Knesset House Committee Chairman MK Miki Zohar (Likud) leads a discussion on canceling the 2013 law limiting the number of ministers, at the Knesset, May 21, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 21, 2019, 9:58 pm
Likud MK pushing immunity bill boasts High Court will soon be ‘irrelevant’
Miki Zohar mocks Meretz MK, telling her that bill granting PM immunity in corruption probes and weakening the court in the process will leave Netanyahu in power another 10 years
By Raoul Wootliff and TOI staff
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