One time-honored method of retaining a political post is to win reelection. Another way to stay in power is to rig the game so there is no election. While this second option seems better-suited to dictatorships, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu manipulated Israel’s peculiar brand of parliamentary democracy to eliminate virtually his last vestige of competition. Will he succeed?
Binyamin Netanyahu might be the master of the middle-of-the-night surprise.
Back in 1996 Israelis fell asleep on election night certain that Shimon Peres had defeated Netanyahu in the prime minister’s race only to awaken to the final vote count that put Netanyahu ahead.
Netanyahu pulled another bolt from the blue last Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning the day after the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and hold a September 4 election. Netanyahu formed a new broad coalition government in partnership with his leading political rival Shaul Mofaz thus postponing the election until its regularly scheduled date of October 2013.
In doing so Netanyahu (Likud) now commands a coalition of 94 out of the Knesset’s 120 members and seven out of its 13 political parties.
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