Elections Loom in Israel Following Inconclusive Meeting

A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid Monday evening ended without a satisfactory agreement, virtually guaranteeing that new elections will be held in the near future. Netanyahu’s erstwhile coalition partners and soon to be rivals wasted no time laying the blame for the crisis at his feet, with Lapid telling reporters almost immediately after the meeting that Netanyahu “is leading us to unnecessary elections” while Justice Minister Tzipi Livni declaring during an address at a security conference in Tel Aviv that the upcoming elections would replace a government based on “extremism, provocativeness and paranoia” while leaders of other factions issued similar statements. Meanwhile, a bill to disperse the current Knesset is expected to pass quickly with a date for new elections by mid-March of 2015. Read More