Israel’s parliament passed a national budget for the first time in three years early on Thursday, avoiding a November deadline that would have triggered fresh elections.
The marathon overnight voting on budget bills in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, was a major hurdle for the new government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose fractious coalition holds a narrow majority.
Failure to pass the budget by Nov. 14 would have brought down the government that was sworn into office in June and triggered a fifth election in barely three years, giving former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an opportunity to return to power.
Bennett celebrated on Twitter, writing that “after years of chaos -- we formed a government, we overcame the Delta variant, and now, thank God, we passed a budget for Israel.”
The Knesset began its overnight session of voting on a series of budget bills, including hundreds of amendments, late on Wednesday. The assembly opened with Bennett and Netanyahu delivering speeches attacking one another.
