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Zionist Union’s No. 2 drops bombshell 12 hours before election; Netanyahu, Herzog accuse each other of ‘panicking’. The Zionist Union’s Tzipi Livni announced Monday evening that she would give up the rotation of the premiership with the slate’s leader, Isaac Herzog, an agreement the two made months ago when her Hatnua party merged with his Labor Party. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the party was “panicking,” while Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett...

With four weeks until elections for the 20th Knesset, Likud and Labor-Hatnua appear to be neck and neck. According to a survey conducted by the Midgam Institute for Channel Two, Labor, running under the moniker the "Zionist Camp" just barely inches by Likud with 25 seats. Likud is one behind with 24 mandates. It has been noted that even if Likud comes in behind, the party with the greatest chance of forming a coalition is given first crack, meaning the outcome of the close competition remains up in the air. The joint Arab list comes in as the third largest...

Former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni insisted that she turned to US Secretary of State John Kerry and urged him not to allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) draft resolution to go to vote before elections "with Israel's interests in mind" during a Channel 10 interview Saturday night. "I turned to Kerry to safeguard the interests of the State of Israel, to prevent the world's coercion of Palestinian demands on Israel," Livni insisted. "I'm glad I did it and I'm glad that things I do have an impact on the world, what can not be said about Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu." Livni...

Noting the "personal attack" directed towards him by Netanyahu - who accused Lapid and Livni of leading a "putsch" from within the coalition - Lapid insisted on issuing a response of his own. "Yesterday you stood in front of the entire nation and announced that you were dragged the State of Israel into unnecessary elections that no one but you wanted, because you are detached. You live in your own aquarium," Lapid fired. Lapid further accused the PM of preferring "to paralyze the economy" via snap elections, rather than to come to an agreement with him over the budget, and...

MK Danny Danon, who heads the Likud Central Committee, on Tuesday evening said that elections could have been prevented, and said he hoped the Likud will learn the lesson from the coalition collapse. "The makeup of the coalition undermined the governance, the mistake was that instead of forming a government with Bennett and the hareidi parties, [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] first of all added Tzipi Livni. That was a mistake, and we saw that Livni and Lapid did nothing but mess things up,” Danon told Arutz Sheva, hours after Netanyahu fired Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Justice Minister...

Eighty-four MKs support measure, which also passes first reading; Livni lashes ‘hysterical’ Netanyahu; Arab party leaders say they’ll unite Knesset members voted overwhelmingly in favor of dissolving the current Knesset in a preliminary vote on Wednesday. Eighty-four MKs supported the measure, none opposed it, and one Knesset member abstained. A first reading of the bill later Wednesday was also approved, with all 22 Knesset members present voting in favor. The move will be finalized on Monday with second and third readings. Knesset faction leaders agreed on March 17, 2015, as the date for new elections, in a meeting with Knesset...

None of this is a shock in the world of Israeli politics - the current coalition government is the 33rd to be created in the 66 years since the foundation of the state. You do not need the powerful graphics computer of an election night TV programme to tell you that two years is around the average life of a coalition arrangement. At least one poll has suggested that most Israelis are not convinced that it was really necessary to dissolve Parliament and the influential newspaper Haaretz has described the coming elections as superfluous. (snip) One unpredictable factor is the...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni on Tuesday let loose at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the impending elections will "not be over zero value added tax," but over replacing a government she accused of "extremism, provocativeness and paranoia" without knowing how to fight terror while also "upholding freedom and Zionism."

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on Tuesday night shortly after 8 p.m., less than two hours after firing coalition members Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua), effectively disbanding the government. "I turn to you tonight because in the current situation, in the current government, it is impossible to lead the nation," said Netanyahu, saying the impasse is preventing him from fulfilling his role as prime minister. While Netanyahu called it "one of the best governments, one of the most stable governments in the history of Israel," adding it was "a true unity...

PM says he took a 'personal risk' firing Lapid and Livni, but said they had made it impossible to govern; calls for snap elections. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the nation on Tuesday night shortly after 8 p.m., less than two hours after firing coalition members Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua), effectively disbanding the government. "I turn to you tonight because in the current situation, in the current government, it is impossible to lead the nation," said Netanyahu, saying the impasse is preventing him from fulfilling his role as prime minister. While Netanyahu...

Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, sought to calm tensions on Sunday, amid reports that the tensions in the coalition are great and that elections are imminent. "I never threatened to leave the government, so this threat is not serious," Lapid told Channel 10 News, adding, “People with interests, members of central committees of parties” are stirring up trouble and trying to block the state budget from passing in the Knesset. "We submitted to the government a budget, perhaps the most social budget we’ve had here in years,” he continued. “Additional budgets to health, education, welfare,...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to warn the heads of the parties in his coalition that unless they compromise on issues of religion and state, the coalition will fall apart and new elections will be held, Channel 2 News reports. According to the report, Netanyahu plans to relay this message in a meeting with the heads of the coalition parties that will be held on Wednesday. The latest crisis in the coalition is centered around Netanyahu’s sudden decision to drop his support for the Conversion Bill, which was introduced by Hatnua. Monday’s decision is being perceived as Netanyahu’s way of...

Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Perry (Yesh Atid) is trying to shelve the law that was approved Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and that would enforce life sentences for terrorist prisoners. On Monday evening, Perry filed an appeal against the law, essentially burying it before it can be brought to the Cabinet for approval. The law would amend one of the Basic Laws of Israel, which allows the President to pardon criminals, by stating certain conditions that would prevent the pardon of any convicted terrorist. The amendment seeks to allow the judges of the court, at the time...

MK Orit Strook (Bayit Yehudi) responded to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's hinted attack on her party with a counterattack Saturday night. "The taste of the Likud's mudslinging campaign has not yet dissipated," she wrote on her Facebook page. "It would be proper for Likud to apologize before the religious Zionist settlement enterprise instead of moralizing to it. "Instead of wondering about our Zionist, values-based connection with Yesh Atid, Likud would do better to explain to its voters the justification of joining with Tzipi Livni and Amir Peretz of all people." Prime Minister Netanyahu hinted Saturday that Bayit Yehudi was engaged...

Tzipi Livni, who chairs the Hatnua party, slammed on Wednesday what she termed "the extremists" in her former party, the Likud. Livni, who visited a bar in Tel Aviv, warned that a coalition between these Likud extremists and the Jewish Home would be a threat to Israel. "Extremists are taking over our lives and if we do not stop them today - we'll end up in a situation that is dangerous for Israel," Livni said. "These extremists are now in the Likud in the form of (Moshe) Feiglin, (Tzipi) Hotovely, (Yariv) Levin and others - they are in the same...

"It is a scar, and it's part of my responsibility, but I still think it was the right move," stated Tzipi Livni, referring to the disengagement from Gaza. In 2006 the government forcibly removal of almost 8,000 Jewish civilians from the areas of Gush Katif. Livni is head of the HaTenua Party, and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs. She made the comments during a tour of the Gush Etzion region in Judea. ..."the goal is to leave the maximum number of people in their homes but not all will remain."