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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Tel Aviv - Amman - Mohammed Kheir Al-Rawashdeh and Nazir Magally

Netanyahu Dissolves Parliament to Cover for Failure on Coalition Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the media at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in stopping the opposition from forming the new coalition government after his Likud party was able to clinch a parliamentary vote to dissolve itself and set elections for September 17.

The vote came as the deadline for Netanyahu to form a coalition expired, sending the country to an unprecedented second snap election.

His failure to form the governing coalition was the result of growing differences with an ally-turned-rival, Avigdor Lieberman, who refused the prime minister's offers to join the government.

Had the deadline passed without the vote, Israel's president would have given another lawmaker, most likely opposition leader Benny Gantz, an opportunity to put together a coalition.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is expected to arrive in Jerusalem on Thursday after visiting Jordan and Morocco in his attempts to shore up support for his Israel-Palestinian peace plan.

Kushner on Wednesday met Jordan's King Abdullah II who insisted on the "need to intensify efforts to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace based on the two-state solution that would guarantee the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the royal palace said.

A day earlier, the US official met with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

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