Israeli lawmakers were voting Thursday on a bill to dissolve parliament in a move that will trigger the country's fifth election in less than four years and make Foreign Minister Yair Lapid the new prime minister.
Final voting on the dissolution bill had been expected before midnight Wednesday, but was delayed amid sparring between the outgoing eight-party coalition and the opposition led by former premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
The prime minister who led that coalition, Naftali Bennett, said late Wednesday that he will not stand in the upcoming elections, and will turn leadership of his religious nationalist Yamina party to his long-term political ally, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.
"I do not intend to run in the upcoming elections, but I will remain a loyal soldier of this country," Bennett said.
A definitive vote on the dissolution bill was expected within hours, with Lapid taking over as prime minister and sending Israelis back to the polls, as the nation remains mired in the worst political crisis in its 74-year history.
Lawmakers had settled on an election date of November 1.
Netanyahu has promised that his own alliance of right-wingers, ultra-nationalists and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties will win the upcoming vote, but polls show he may also struggle to rally a parliamentary majority.
Netanyahu's main challenger will likely be long-time foe Lapid, a former celebrity news anchor who has surprised many since being dismissed as a lightweight when he entered politics a decade ago.
Bennett's motley alliance formed with Lapid in June 2021 offered a reprieve from an unprecedented era of political gridlock, ending Netanyahu's record 12 consecutive years in power and passing Israel's first state budget since 2018.
As pair announced plans to end their coalition last week, Lapid sought to cast Netanyahu's potential return to office as a national threat.
"What we need to do today is go back to the concept of Israeli unity. Not to let dark forces tear us apart from within," Lapid said.
