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| Netanyahu fires 2 centrist Israeli cabinet ministers, setting stage for early elections | Netanyahu fires 2 centrist Israeli cabinet ministers, setting stage for early elections |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| JERUSALEM — It was always a fractious relationship, and so it came as no real surprise that after weeks of increasingly vociferous public sparring, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired the two top centrists from his cabinet, setting the stage for the dissolution of parliament and the holding of early elections, probably in March. | JERUSALEM — It was always a fractious relationship, and so it came as no real surprise that after weeks of increasingly vociferous public sparring, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired the two top centrists from his cabinet, setting the stage for the dissolution of parliament and the holding of early elections, probably in March. |
| Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party and the second-longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, said he had finally had enough, complaining that he could not run a government with constant bickering. | Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party and the second-longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, said he had finally had enough, complaining that he could not run a government with constant bickering. |
| “I can no longer tolerate opposition from within the government,” he said in a televised statement, hours after ousting Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid. | |
| He accused the ministers of organizing a “putsch” against him and told Israelis that he had no choice but to dissolve the Knesset and go to elections as soon as possible. The last elections were held only two years ago. | |
| “I will not agree to having . . . ministers in the government attacking the government,” Netanyahu said. “It is a lack of national responsibility.” | |
| He said the two had undermined his authority and worked against him and the rest of the government. Livni, for example, had met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas against the government’s orders, and Lapid had accused Netanyahu of creating tension between Israel and the United States, Netanyahu said. | |
| When Israeli journalists pointed out that other, more right-wing, members of the cabinet — Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman — had also undermined the prime minister on several occasions, Netanyahu responded that he had asked them to stop and they had. | |
| Lapid, a handsome former TV anchor, represents secular Israelis who have grown tired of sky-high rents and housing prices and forking over tax dollars to support the life-long religious studies of ultra-Orthodox Jews who decline to serve in the military and do not contribute much to the gross domestic product. | Lapid, a handsome former TV anchor, represents secular Israelis who have grown tired of sky-high rents and housing prices and forking over tax dollars to support the life-long religious studies of ultra-Orthodox Jews who decline to serve in the military and do not contribute much to the gross domestic product. |
| Livni is the frustrated former peace negotiator who spent nine months huddled with Secretary of State John F. Kerry and her Palestinian counterparts, before the talks imploded in a round of bitter recriminations. | |
| Netanyahu and his coalition partners from the center have been tussling for months over the budget, defense spending, value-added taxes, housing and how best to handle — to cool or confront — violent demonstrations by Palestinians in Jerusalem and a string of deadly terrorist attacks. | Netanyahu and his coalition partners from the center have been tussling for months over the budget, defense spending, value-added taxes, housing and how best to handle — to cool or confront — violent demonstrations by Palestinians in Jerusalem and a string of deadly terrorist attacks. |
| The three have also sparred over Netanyahu’s push to pass a basic law that would officially declare Israel a “Jewish state,” in which the national aspirations and the collective and religious rights of Jews take precedence over the individual rights of Israel’s minorities, notably the 20 percent of the population that is Arab and Muslim. | The three have also sparred over Netanyahu’s push to pass a basic law that would officially declare Israel a “Jewish state,” in which the national aspirations and the collective and religious rights of Jews take precedence over the individual rights of Israel’s minorities, notably the 20 percent of the population that is Arab and Muslim. |
| Livni said the coming elections will not be about value-added taxes but the country’s direction and whether Israel will remain both Zionist and democratic — or be run by “extreme and dangerous parties that must be prevented from taking over and destroying the country.” | |
| Lapid’s political party, Yesh Atid, which translates roughly as “There is a Future,” called the firing of the ministers “an act of cowardice and loss of control.” | Lapid’s political party, Yesh Atid, which translates roughly as “There is a Future,” called the firing of the ministers “an act of cowardice and loss of control.” |
| In a speech hours before he was dismissed, Lapid accused Netanyahu of caring more for his political career than the country. And he said the prime minister was busy plotting new alliances with parties that represent the ultra-Orthodox, who are largely dependent on the state financially, instead of the tax-paying middle class. | In a speech hours before he was dismissed, Lapid accused Netanyahu of caring more for his political career than the country. And he said the prime minister was busy plotting new alliances with parties that represent the ultra-Orthodox, who are largely dependent on the state financially, instead of the tax-paying middle class. |
| “Instead of lowering the cost of living, passing a social budget, improving salaries for the middle class and supporting the weakest in society, [Netanyahu] prefers to raise taxes and to pay the ultra-Orthodox parties now from the pockets of the Israeli middle class,” Lapid said. | |
| Speaking on Israel Radio, members of Netanyahu’s Likud party said Lapid had failed abysmally in running the economy. They charged that his tax and budget proposals would undermine the Israeli armed forces while doing nothing to provide affordable housing. | Speaking on Israel Radio, members of Netanyahu’s Likud party said Lapid had failed abysmally in running the economy. They charged that his tax and budget proposals would undermine the Israeli armed forces while doing nothing to provide affordable housing. |
| In an opinion piece in the Times of Israel, editor David Horovitz declared “a plague on all their houses.” He wrote, “Israeli voters might be forgiven for thinking their leaders are more interested in power for power’s sake than in the effective governance of the nation in a region fraught with dangers.” | |
| Two months ago, no one in the political system wanted an election, according to Amit Segal, a political reporter for Israel’s Channel 2 television station. | Two months ago, no one in the political system wanted an election, according to Amit Segal, a political reporter for Israel’s Channel 2 television station. |
| “Then something dramatic happened,” he said. “Netanyahu found that his allies in this coalition no longer considered him as prime minister.” | “Then something dramatic happened,” he said. “Netanyahu found that his allies in this coalition no longer considered him as prime minister.” |
| Some coalition partners, for example, ganged up on him and voted in favor of a bill prohibiting the free distribution of the newspaper Yisrael Hayom, which is owned by Netanyahu’s friend and backer, Sheldon Adelson, an American casino magnate in Las Vegas who is also a leading contributor to the Republican Party. | Some coalition partners, for example, ganged up on him and voted in favor of a bill prohibiting the free distribution of the newspaper Yisrael Hayom, which is owned by Netanyahu’s friend and backer, Sheldon Adelson, an American casino magnate in Las Vegas who is also a leading contributor to the Republican Party. |
| “Netanyahu saw this as a first step toward a putsch,” Segal said. “He saw it as a first step out of the prime minister’s house.” | “Netanyahu saw this as a first step toward a putsch,” Segal said. “He saw it as a first step out of the prime minister’s house.” |
| If the parliament is dissolved as expected, it would be the second-shortest in Israeli history, lasting just 20 months. | If the parliament is dissolved as expected, it would be the second-shortest in Israeli history, lasting just 20 months. |
| According to a new poll, if the elections were held today, Netanyahu would come out on top. The Channel 10 poll was carried out by Camil Fuchs, head of the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at Tel Aviv University. | |
| Looming in the background is continued pressure on the Israeli government to return to the negotiating table with the Palestinians. | Looming in the background is continued pressure on the Israeli government to return to the negotiating table with the Palestinians. |
| On Tuesday, French lawmakers passed a symbolic resolution urging their government to recognize a state of Palestine. | On Tuesday, French lawmakers passed a symbolic resolution urging their government to recognize a state of Palestine. |
| The vote follows a decision by Sweden to recognize Palestine and similar actions in Ireland, Britain and Spain — all urging the parties to make a deal and showing Europe’s growing frustration with the status quo of military occupation in the West Bank and a partial trade and travel blockade of the Gaza Strip. | The vote follows a decision by Sweden to recognize Palestine and similar actions in Ireland, Britain and Spain — all urging the parties to make a deal and showing Europe’s growing frustration with the status quo of military occupation in the West Bank and a partial trade and travel blockade of the Gaza Strip. |
| Booth reported from Beirut. | Booth reported from Beirut. |