The future of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, is uncertain as the country’s right, centre and left are set to join hands to oust the premier. The west Asian country has been marred with political uncertainty since 2019, resulting in polls after poll, four in total, since April 2019. 

What is the reason behind this?

Both the inability of the Israeli political parties to form and maintain coalitions as well as graft case against Netanyahu are the reasons behind Israel’s current political situation.

Here is a timeline of the events that unfolded since 2019:

Election 1:

Israel went to the polls on April 9, 2019, amid corruption allegations against the Israeli PM. 

Netanyahu’s Likud party and his main centrist challenger Benny Gantz’s Blue and White alliance finished neck-to-neck with 35 seats each.

Smaller right-wing parties support Netanyahu and Parliament chose him to form the government. However, snap polls were called as he wasn’t able to command the majority in the Knesset.

Election 2:

Polling took place on September 17, 2019, in which Gantz’s party faired slightly better with 33 seats against Likud’s 32. Netanyahu called his challenger to form a unity government, which the latter turned down citing the PM’s potential indictment on corruption charges.

The next month, Netanyahu announced that he had failed to form a government after which President Reuven Rivlin called Gantz, who also threw in the towel a month later.

On November 21, Netanyahu was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, marking the first time a sitting PM faced trial in Israel.

The PM, however, rejected the charges.

As the deadline passed for the parliament, lawmakers in December called for another poll. 

Election 3:

Polling took place on March 2, 2020, in which Likud won the most seats — 36 against 33 for Gantz’s party.

However, with the support of 61 lawmakers, Gantz was nominated to form the government, but he failed.

On April 20, Netanyahu and Gantz joined hands to form a unity government. Under the deal, the former would serve as the country’s leader for 18 months, followed by the latter for the same amount of time.

Israel’s Supreme Court approved the coalition deal on May 6 and the lawmakers endorsed the pact the next day.

But, the parliament was dissolved again in December as it failed to adopt a budget and new elections were called.

Election 4:

Polls took place on March 23, 2021 in which Netanyahu‘s Likud came out on top with 30 seats.

Within the anti-Netanyahu bloc, the centrist Yesh Atid party, led by former television host Yair Lapid, won the most number of seats (17).

The President called Netanyahu to form the government.

On April 20, the PM called for direct polls to choose Israel’s next premier.

After Netanyahu failed to forge an alliance, Lapid was called to form the government on May 5.

On May 30, Israeli nationalist hardliner Naftali Bennett said he would join a potential coalition government that could end Netanyahu’s rule.