Latest news with #earlyelections
Free Malaysia Today
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Israel's Knesset rejects vote on dissolving itself
Parliament rejected a motion that might have led to early elections, which recent polls indicated could unseat PM Benjamin Netanyahu. (EPA Images pic) JERUSALEM : Israel's parliament rejected early on Thursday a preliminary vote to dissolve itself, the Knesset said in a statement, after an agreement was reached regarding a dispute over conscription. The vote, which could have been a first step leading to an early election that polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose, was rejected with 61 lawmakers opposing it to 53 supporting it. The Knesset consists of 120 seats, and the majority needed to pass the vote was 61 lawmakers. This gives Netanyahu's ruling coalition further time to resolve its worst political crisis yet and avoid a ballot, which would be Israel's first since the eruption of the war with Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu has been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis. 'I am pleased to announce that after long discussions we have reached agreements on the principles on which the draft law will be based,' Knesset's foreign affairs and defence committee Yuli Edelstein said in a statement. Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether. The exemptions have been a hot-button issue in Israel for years but have become particularly contentious during the war in Gaza, as Israel has suffered its highest battlefield casualties in decades and its stretched military is in need of more troops. Growing increasingly impatient with the political deadlock, ultra-Orthodox coalition factions have said they will vote with opposition parties in favour of dissolving the Knesset and bringing forward an election that is not due until late 2026. 'It's more than ever urgent to replace Netanyahu's government and specifically this toxic and harmful government,' said Labour's opposition lawmaker Merav Michaeli. 'It's urgent to end the war in Gaza and to bring back all the hostages. It's urgent to start rebuilding and healing the state of Israel.' Successive polls have predicted that Netanyahu's coalition would lose in an election, with Israelis still reeling over the security failure of Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct 7 2023 attack and hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas' surprise attack led to Israel's deadliest single day and shattered Netanyahu's security credentials, with 1,200 people killed and 251 hostages taken into Gaza. Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza has since killed almost 55,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Gaza, left much of the territory in ruins, and its more than two million population largely displaced and gripped by a humanitarian crisis. Twenty months into the fighting, public support for the Gaza war has waned. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat there, adding to anger many Israelis feel over the ultra-Orthodox exemption demands even as the war drags on. Ultra-Orthodox religious leaders, however, see full-time devotion to religious studies as sacrosanct and military service as a threat to the students' strict religious lifestyle.
Irish Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's coalition threaten to vote for Bill calling for early elections
Ultra-Orthodox parties in prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition are threatening to vote with the opposition next week in favour of a Bill calling for early elections. Elections must be held by October 2026. According to polls, Mr Netanyahu's right-wing and religious coalition is set to lose its majority. The Bill to be voted on in a preliminary vote next week would likely mean the election would be brought forward to later this year or early next year. The 20-month Gaza war , the longest in Israel's history, has caused a serious rift in Mr Netanyahu's coalition. Many of the voters of the right-wing parties have already served hundreds of days of army reserve duty, causing a huge strain on families and businesses. READ MORE The ultra-Orthodox parties, in contrast, serve a constituency that, with a few exceptions, does not serve in the army. Calls for a more equitable sharing of the burden have been rebuffed by ultra-Orthodox leaders, who fear that military service will be the first step towards the adoption of a more secular lifestyle. The fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community, which already makes up about 14 per cent of Israel's population, is angry that the government has failed to pass legislation enshrining in law an exemption from military service for yeshiva religious seminary students. [ International aid ship en route to Gaza will be stopped, warns Israeli military Opens in new window ] Israel's high court ruled a year ago that the draft exemption for the ultra-Orthodox community is illegal as it discriminates against other Israelis, who serve three years in the army from the age of 18. However, the overwhelming majority of ultra-Orthodox Jews, known in Hebrew as Haredim, or God-fearing, have simply ignored their draft orders – so far with impunity. Mr Netanyahu promised the ultra-Orthodox parties months ago that legislation would be passed enabling the community to continue avoiding military service, but he failed to deliver on that promise, partly due to fierce opposition from his own political base. Legislation being drawn up by Yuli Edelstein, the head of the Knesset parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, and a member of Mr Netanyahu's Likud party, calls for sweeping economic sanctions against those who avoid the draft and would also prevent offenders from receiving a driving licence or travelling abroad. In an effort to exert pressure on Mr Netanyahu, the ultra-Orthodox parties have, for the last month, refused to support coalition private members' Bills, effectively paralysing the work of the Knesset. The prospect of early elections is highly problematic for Mr Netanyahu. 'It looks like the beginning of the end,' a source involved in one ultra-Orthodox party said. 'The question is just how much time this end will take.' However, ultra-Orthodox parties will have to take into account the fact that early elections could also send them into opposition.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Families of October 7 victims demand early Israeli elections
"Advancing the elections is not a political call—it is a moral call, dictated by circumstances and the urgent need to reach the truth," said Eyal Eshel, father of Roni Eshel. Early elections are needed since the current government has refused to investigate the October 7 Hamas massacre, the leaders of the October Council demanded on Tuesday. The NGO, which represents over 1,500 families of victims of the October 7 attacks, declared that it was shifting the focus of its operations from demanding a state Commission of inquiry to demanding an early election at a press conference in Beersheba. According to Eyal Eshel, father of field intelligence lookout Roni Eshel, who was killed on October 7, 'Throughout the process, the current government has been given every possible opportunity to establish a state commission of inquiry. Only when the elections are moved forward will the obstruction end, and the chances of uncovering the truth increase. 'Advancing the elections is not a political call; it is a moral call, dictated by circumstances and the urgent need to reach the truth.' The press conference was held at the Kaye Academic College of Education in Beersheba, where a number of politicians were attending the Sderot Conference on Society and Education, and coincided with the 600-day mark of the massacre, which will be reached on Wednesday. Other speakers included Osnat Peri, widow of Haim Peri of Nir Oz, who was taken hostage and died in captivity; Reut Recht-Edri, mother of Ido Edri, a Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) fighter who was killed at the Nova festival; Adi Zakuto, daughter of Avi, who was killed in Ofakim; and Yoram Yehudai, father of Ron, who was also killed at the Nova festival. In a statement accompanying the details of the press conference, the council said, 'The government has announced that it will never establish a state commission of inquiry, leaving us no choice: We are launching a campaign to bring forward the elections.' The NGO continued, 'We have spent a year trying to engage in dialogue, seeking compromises and agreements, but the government has slammed the door on us. Today, we are moving to a new phase in our struggle. If holding elections is what it takes to establish a state commission of inquiry, then we will fight to ensure elections take place. We will not accept continued cover-ups, secrecy, and obstruction of the investigation. 'If we wait until the scheduled elections in October 2026, it means that even three years after the disaster in which we lost our loved ones, there still won't be a state commission of inquiry. In the meantime, documents will be shredded, testimonies will be coordinated, and crucial information will be erased. 'Therefore, we will work to advance the elections to reduce the number of days in which the possibility of establishing a state commission is blocked,' the group said. On March 3, members of the October Council were physically barred from entering the visitors' section of the Knesset plenum to observe a discussion regarding a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre. A prolonged and partially violent confrontation ensued, after which at least two members of the council required medical treatment. A state commission of inquiry is the most powerful probe in Israel's legal system and the only type of probe that operates completely independently of the political echelon. Its members are appointed by the chief justice, and it has the power to subpoena witnesses and make personal recommendations regarding individuals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to form such a commission on the grounds that the chief justice does not enjoy public trust, and therefore, the committee's recommendations would be
ABC News
27-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Samoa to head into early elections after PM Fiame dissolves parliament
Samoa will go into early elections after parliament failed to pass the national budget this morning. Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa announced that she will seek a dissolution of parliament and will await the Head of State to advise when the national election will be called. The ABC's Adel Fruean recounted what unfolded in parliament this morning and shared with Nesia Daily what this now means for the country. Also in the program, we spoke with Luna-Rossa Lomitusi-Ape, a young beekeeper from Samoa who is on a mission to build up and protect the population of bees in the country. Moses Cakau Willie joined us to acknowledge the passing of Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, a pioneering Ni-Vanuatu politician and chief who was the first woman elected to the nation's parliament in 1987, and eventually became Vanuatu's first female minister in 1991.
