JERUSALEM, (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed yesterday for a “clear mandate” from voters in the early election he called, with opinion polls showing the right-wing leader on track for a fourth term.
A day after Netanyahu fired centrist members of his feuding governing coalition, faction leaders in parliament agreed on a March 17 date for the election and legislators approved the Knesset’s dissolution in a preliminary vote.
Yair Lapid, the dismissed finance minister, and Tzipi Livni, who held the justice portfolio, had irked Netanyahu by echoing international criticism of the predominantly rightist government’s policy of expanding Jewish settlement on occupied land Palestinians seek for a state.
They also opposed cabinet-approved legislation to anchor in law the concept of Israel as a Jewish nation-state. Critics of the bill, which still faces parliamentary hurdles, say it is discriminatory towards Israel’s 20 percent Arab minority.
Two opinion polls issued on Tuesday predicted Netanyahu’s Likud would emerge as the largest party, but short of an outright majority in the 120-seat Knesset, if the national ballot was held now.
That would leave Netanyahu well-positioned to form what would likely be the most right-wing government in Israel’s 66-year history, comprised of his current ultra-nationalist partners and possible Orthodox Jewish allies, and devoid of now alienated moderates.
