Politics of Israel

Ankara "completely rejected baseless" decisions against Turkey taken at the meeting of the Arab League Foreign Ministers Council held on March 3, the Foreign Ministry has said.

To the sounds of his impassioned supporters chanting outside, a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode into a Jerusalem courtroom on May 24 to face corruption charges in a long-awaited trial that has overshadowed three inconclusive elections and deeply divided the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist election rival Benny Gantz signed a deal on April 20 to form a national emergency government, ending a year of unprecedented political deadlock.   

Opposition leader Benny Gantz will be asked to form a new government, Israel's president said on March 15, boosting his chances of ousting veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It was a blow to Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political life amid unprecedented political deadlock and a criminal indictment for corruption, which he denies.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led on March 3 in a tight election in Israel, but was still short of a governing majority in the third national ballot in less than a year, partial results showed.   

Israelis began voting on March 2 in the country's unprecedented third election in less than a year to decide whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in power despite his upcoming criminal trial on corruption charges.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu easily won a vote to keep the Likud party helm, the party said on Dec. 27, in a boost ahead of what is likely to be a hard-fought general election in March.

The Arab bloc in Israel's parliament abandoned its usual hands-off stance on Sept. 22 and endorsed former military chief Benny Gantz for prime minister, potentially giving him the edge over hard-line incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.

The divided Israeli society has once again failed to reach a clear decision. The results of Tuesday's elections have cast the country back into a cycle of negotiations. Center-left Benny Gantz and conservative incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu are weighing their options, while former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is pursuing the role of potential kingmaker.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in a battle for political survival after exit polls following Sept. 17's election showed the race too close to call and the Israeli leader's decade-long grip on power slipping.