Israel to hold snap election, with Netanyahu facing unprecedented challenges

Israel is slated to hold a snap election in March after its parliament Tuesday failed to meet a deadline to pass a budget.

This has triggered a ballot presenting unprecedented challenges for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He has been facing public anger over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and while he is engaged in a corruption trial, the first against an Israeli prime minister.

This would be Israel's fourth parliamentary election in two years.

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The longest-serving leader will also have to contend with a new rival from the right, Gideon Saar, a defector from Netanyahu's Likud party. An opinion poll on Israel's Kan public TV on Tuesday showed Saar drawing even with the prime minister.

Netanyahu, who has denied any criminal wrongdoing, and the current defence minister, centrist politician Benny Gantz, established a unity government in May after three inconclusive elections held since April 2019.

But they have been locked in a dispute over passage of a national budget, key to implementing a deal in which Gantz was to have taken over from Netanyahu in November 2021. A new election means that "rotation" will never happen.

Netanyahu will remain prime minister until a new government is formed after the March election. Now 71, he first served in the post from 1996 to 1999 and has held the office since 2009.

In his TV address, however, Netanyahu said he had arranged for millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine to be delivered to Israel. He also hailed US-brokered diplomatic deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

(with inputs)