Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament early on Thursday, paving the way for a new election after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government before a midnight deadline.
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The ballot is widely expected to take place in September, the second this year. It represented unprecedented upheaval, commentators said, even in a country used to political infighting, and dealt a blow to Netanyahu, who had claimed victory in the last vote, held on April 9.
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Parliament’s 74-to-45 vote took place just minutes after a midnight deadline for Netanyahu to form a coalition.
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He is set to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister in the summer.
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The turmoil arose from a feud between Netanyahu’s presumed allies — ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right secularist, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties — over military conscription.
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The religious parties do not want young ultra-Orthodox seminary students to be forced to serve in the military. But Lieberman and many other Israelis want them to share the burden of mandatory military duty.
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Yet a new election represents less of a setback for Netanyahu than the alternative — in which Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, could have asked another politician to try and form a ruling coalition.
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Faced with the prospect of having to step aside and watch one of his political rivals push him to the margins, Netanyahu instead drummed up votes to dissolve the 120-seat Knesset.