Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ended the governing coalition by dismissing two key ministers from his Cabinet.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who were in coalition with Netanyahu since the spring of 2013, were sacked from their posts and Netanyahu said he would call for the dissolution of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, to pave the way for early elections. On Wednesday, it became known that party leaders had reached agreement to fix 17 March 2015 as the date for the Knesset elections.
"In the last couple of weeks and over the last day, Lapid and Livni have forcefully attacked the government," Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening. "I will not tolerate this opposition from within," he added.
Following the announcement Netanyahu addressed the press saying that he could not lead the government with his current coalition. He said his previous government (2009-2013) was one of Israel's best ever but his current government couldn't get anything done.
He said there had been political unity during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, but now it was impossible to advance things for the good of the people.
The Likud leader attacked Lapid and Livni for opposing building over the Green Line, particularly in Jerusalem. Livni earlier on Tuesday said the impending elections would be fought over replacing a government she accused of "extremism, provocativeness and paranoia" without knowing how to fight terror while also "upholding freedom and Zionism."
Speaking at an Institute for National Security Studies conference, said she was going straight from her speech to meet with Netanyahu and that she "refused to compromise on any of the values that have guided me." She accused the prime minister of "inciting sectors in Israel against each other," attacking his proposed law to define the Jewishness of the country as abandoning the idea of balancing Zionism with democratic principles.
Lapid's Yesh Atid party responded to the finance minister’s dismissal, saying that Netanyahu’s “haphazard move of firing the ministers is an act of cowardice and loss of control.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has failed in his management of the country and in dealing with the needs of the Israeli public,” the party said in a statement. “We are sad to see that the prime minister has chosen to act without consideration for the national interest and to drag Israel to unnecessary elections which will harm the economy and Israeli society, all for narrow political interests and a surrender to the ultra-orthodox parties, the powerful central committee of the Likud and outside lobby groups.”
The statement added that the remaining Yesh Atid ministers would tender their resignations.
Once a final Knesset vote on dissolving the legislature is held next week, Netanyahu will lead a minority government until a new administration is formed after the election.
