With No Coalition in Sight, Netanyahu Insists More Elections Needed

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin on Tuesday addressed the latest speculations surrounding his failed bid to form a government, blaming his right-wing partners for intentionally foiling his efforts and calling on parliament to approve snap personal elections for the premiership alone. “It’s either that or a dangerous left-wing government with a token, fig-leaf right-wing party. Those are the two options remaining,” Netanyahu said. The prime minister, who has less than two weeks left to present a government before another candidate gets the nomination and a crack at it, accused Naftali Bennett, a former ally and current head of the right-wing Yamina party, of collaborating with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid on the way to a unity government that will unseat the incumbent. Netanyahu’s rather desperate proposal to hold personal elections seems unlikely to pass, with the prime minister already suffering a stinging defeat on Monday in a parliamentary vote that awarded the Lapid-Bennett bloc control of a key parliamentary committee.