Israel's Netanyahu Backs Bill for Direct Election for PM

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station during Israel's general election, in Jerusalem, on March 23, 2021. (AP)
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station during Israel's general election, in Jerusalem, on March 23, 2021. (AP)
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Israel's Netanyahu Backs Bill for Direct Election for PM

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station during Israel's general election, in Jerusalem, on March 23, 2021. (AP)
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to cast his ballot at a polling station during Israel's general election, in Jerusalem, on March 23, 2021. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for a new law to allow the direct election of the nation's leader as a way to break the country's two-year political deadlock.

The proposal could guarantee Netanyahu another term as prime minister after he and his religious and nationalist allies failed to win a clear majority in March 23 elections. It also would allow him to stay in power while facing a lengthy corruption trial.

Netanyahu has a May 4 deadline to build a governing coalition. After that, a group of small parties that oppose him hope to be able to cobble together an alternative government.

“There is a solution to the political stalemate, and the vast majority of the public supports it,” Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud party. He said a direct vote for prime minister would avoid “assembling absurd governments” and would allow Israeli citizens to choose a leader in “snap elections, without dissolving parliament.”

His opponents immediately decried the move, saying Israel does not need another election.

Last month's election was Israel's fourth in just two years. Netanyahu was subsequently tasked by the country's president earlier this month to build a governing coalition. He has been courting a small Islamist faction that has emerged as kingmaker, and a pair of former allies who now head small rival parties. But so far he does not have a clear path to a new government.

Monday's proposal was floated by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a close ally of Netanyahu's. The proposal calls for a one-time snap election for prime minister, and a candidate who receives more than 40% of the vote would win. Netanyahu and his allies received almost half the seats in parliament, with his divided opponents taking the remainder.

The bill would require a majority of 61 members of Knesset, or parliament, to pass.

Shas leader Aryeh Deri said the bill “provides a solution to a dead end that the state of Israel is stuck in.”

It remained unclear whether the bill will garner sufficient support to pass.

Israel previously held three direct elections for prime minister, in 1996, 1999 and 2001. But the system was scrapped due to widespread dissatisfaction and the country reverted to its current system of elections for party lists of candidates.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter that Israel “does not need another election. There were elections. They ended in the fact that for the fourth time Netanyahu doesn’t have a government.” Gideon Saar, a former Netanyahu ally-turned-rival, also opposed the bill, saying now was not the time to change the electoral system.

No party has ever won an outright majority of the Knesset's 120 seats, requiring larger factions to build sometimes unwieldy governing coalitions.

Netanyahu twice failed to build a governing coalition in Israel's two 2019 elections. After the 2020 election, the longtime leader formed a unity government with his main rival in what they said was an emergency coalition to manage the coronavirus crisis. The partnership collapsed in December after months of infighting.

He now seeks to hold onto power while standing trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three cases. As prime minister, Netanyahu is not legally obligated to step down from office while under indictment. He also has used the office to lead a campaign against the country's media, law enforcement and judicial systems, claiming he is the victim of a witch hunt.



Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
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Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS

Greece's government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that ... it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

According to The Associated Press, the suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said. “The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.