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Israel’s Parliament Dissolves, Sets 5th Election in 4 Years

Knesset members participate in the voting session to dissolve the government in the Knesset Plenum, or the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, Israel, 30 June 2022. (EPA)
Knesset members participate in the voting session to dissolve the government in the Knesset Plenum, or the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, Israel, 30 June 2022. (EPA)
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Israel’s Parliament Dissolves, Sets 5th Election in 4 Years

Knesset members participate in the voting session to dissolve the government in the Knesset Plenum, or the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, Israel, 30 June 2022. (EPA)
Knesset members participate in the voting session to dissolve the government in the Knesset Plenum, or the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, Israel, 30 June 2022. (EPA)

Israel’s parliament voted Thursday to dissolve itself and send the country to the polls in November for the fifth time in less than four years.

Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister and architect of the outgoing coalition government, will become the country’s caretaker prime minister just after midnight on Friday. He will be the 14th person to hold that office, taking over from Naftali Bennett, Israel's shortest serving prime minister.

The government collapsed just over a year after it was formed in a historic move that saw longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu ousted after 12 years in power by a coalition of ideologically diverse parties, the first to include an Arab faction.

The motion to dissolve passed with 92 lawmakers in favor, and none opposing, after days of bickering by coalition and opposition lawmakers over the date of new elections and other last-minute legislation.

New elections will be held on November 1.

The move brings a formal end to a political experiment in which eight parties from across the Israeli spectrum tried to find common ground after a period of prolonged gridlock in which the country held four elections in two years.

The upcoming elections are an extension of Israel’s protracted political crisis, at the heart of which sits Netanyahu and his ongoing corruption trial. The four deadlocked elections in the previous three years were largely referendums on Netanyahu’s fitness to serve while facing charges of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.

Lapid, a former talk-show host who heads a center-left party, is expected to campaign as caretaker prime minister to keep the job as the main alternative to Netanyahu, and will likely get an early boost when he welcomes President Joe Biden to the country next week.

Polls by Israeli media show Netanyahu and his allies gaining seats, although it is unclear whether they would have enough to form a 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. If neither he nor anyone else succeeds in doing so, Israel could go to elections yet again.

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Denmark Says It Will Summon a US Diplomat Over Report on Increased US Intel Gathering in Greenland 

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen listens to speakers during a meeting after a ceremony to mark the 25th Anniversary Nordic Embassies in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen listens to speakers during a meeting after a ceremony to mark the 25th Anniversary Nordic Embassies in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP)
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Denmark Says It Will Summon a US Diplomat Over Report on Increased US Intel Gathering in Greenland 

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen listens to speakers during a meeting after a ceremony to mark the 25th Anniversary Nordic Embassies in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP)
Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen listens to speakers during a meeting after a ceremony to mark the 25th Anniversary Nordic Embassies in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP)

Denmark says it will summon the top US diplomat in the country for an explanation following a Wall Street Journal report about the United States stepping up intelligence gathering on Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory coveted by President Donald Trump.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told broadcaster DR outside a meeting Wednesday with colleagues in Poland that Denmark would summon the US chargé d’affaires to seek a “rebuttal” or other explanation following the report.

The Journal, citing two people familiar with the US effort that it did not identify, reported that several high-ranking officials under the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, had directed intelligence agency heads to learn more about Greenland’s independence movement and sentiment about US resource extraction there.

The US Embassy did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press on Thursday seeking comment on whether the US diplomat in Copenhagen, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, had received a summons. The Danish Foreign Ministry, in an email, did not comment beyond referring to Rasmussen’s remarks.

Rasmussen, who has previously scolded the Trump administration over its criticism of NATO ally Denmark and Greenland, said the information in the report was “very worrying” and “we don’t spy between friends.”

“We are looking at this with quite a lot of seriousness,” he added.

Greenland's prime minister said last month that US statements about the mineral-rich Arctic island have been disrespectful and it “will never, ever be a piece of property that can be bought by just anyone.”

In a visit to the island last month, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, addressing the United States during a visit to Greenland that “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument made by US officials that international security is at stake.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Washington will respect Greenland’s self-determination and alleged that Greenlanders “don’t want to be a part of Denmark.”