Israeli coalition collapse sets up Netanyahu-Lapid political showdown

The Knesset approved a preliminary vote dissolving the parliament today. Thus, if all goes as the coalition plans, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will take over soon as prime minister. As part of the coalition/rotation agreement with incumbent Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, if the Knesset is dissolved and early elections are announced, Lapid automatically becomes prime minister. He doesn’t even need to be sworn in, since he was already sworn in as alternative prime minister.

Israeli politics has been subjected to a barrage of inconceivable events in the last three years, and this last move of dissolving the Knesset is certainly one of them. Up until June 20, Lapid and current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated publicly that they were struggling to preserve their coalition, even after it lost its majority. Then, just a few hours later, the two men appeared again before the cameras to drop their bombshell.

Now it appears that the Knesset will be dissolved within a week, and Israel will have yet another election, most likely in late October. Lapid will start serving as premier immediately after the Knesset is officially dissolved, throughout the transition period. Lapid’s personal security detail was increased as of June 20.

And so, one decade after he first entered politics, Lapid, 58, will fulfill his dream of becoming prime minister. He didn’t take the high road there, and he will have no real power. According to law and precedent, a transition government must show restraint. Nevertheless, he will have the title he long coveted for the next few months, and with it he will try to win the next election.