Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Shaul Mofaz approved a last-minute deal overnight Monday to form a national unity government that would postpone early elections. The Likud and Kadima factions began emergency meetings after 2:00 a.m. to discuss developments, eventually approving the deal that will bring Netanyahu''s government more political stability.
But in February, it was a bit different:
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu preempted headlines suggesting early elections when he told his supporters at his Likud leadership race victory speech at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds early Wednesday that “there is still time” before Israel will head to the polls. Speaking to a crowd full of Likud activists and most of the party’s ministers and MKs after 1 a.m., Netanyahu...hinted that general ection will be closer to the set date of October 22, 2013 than many people think. “It is not a foregone conclusion that so many people would leave work and school to vote when it is not in the context of a national election for the Knesset,” he said, adding, “by the way, there is still time” before such an election would take place.
And earlier this week, the news was
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Monday for an early general election on September 4, a vote opinion polls say will renew his leadership mandate as Israel confronts Iran''s nuclear ambitions. "My intention is to form as wide a coalition as possible in order to bring about stability and lead Israel in the face of the great challenges still ahead of us," Netanyahu told his cabinet in public remarks.
Welcome to the Zionist roller-coaster.
^