This archive report was first published on 11 December 2019.
Israel's parliament has been plunged into chaos as it moved to dissolve itself and call a third general election within a year, following the collapse of coalition talks between embattled premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist rival Benny Gantz.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli parliament passed a preliminary reading of a bill to dissolve parliament and set a new election for March 2, with a 50-0 vote in favor of the motion.
Netanyahu and Gantz, both of whom have failed to build a governing majority in the Knesset, or parliament, since a deadlocked vote in September, have spent days trading blame for the failing coalition talks.
"It now seems that we will be going into a third election cycle today because of Netanyahu's attempt to obtain immunity," Gantz told lawmakers on Wednesday. "We must stand in opposition to this."
Gantz has demanded Netanyahu publicly declare he would not seek parliamentary immunity as a precondition to further talks.
Netanyahu and Gantz had been discussing a potential unity government, but disagreed on who should lead it. The parties of Netanyahu and Gantz were nearly deadlocked in September's election, following a similarly inconclusive poll in April.
Israel's proportional system is reliant on coalition building, and both parties fell well short of the 61 seats needed to command a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
