In an unprecedented development, Israeli lawmakers have voted to dissolve Parliament after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government before a midnight deadline, triggering a fresh general election to be held on September 17.
In little more than six weeks since they were elected, Israeli lawmakers voted 74-45 in favour of dissolving the 21st Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and hold a second general election in the same calendar year.
It is the first time in Israel's history that a prime minister-designate has failed to form a coalition.
Netanyahu's remarkable victory in the April 9 polls securing him a record fifth term proved temporary in the face of a logjam between potential coalition partners over a military conscription bill governing exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.
Former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman of the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party conditioned allying with ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in the Netanyahu-led ...
