Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was able to narrowly maintain his coalition and avoid early special elections after Avigdor Liberman resigned from his position as defense minister last week.
Liberman’s resignation threw Netanyahu’s coalition into jeopardy, especially with pundits thinking that Education Minister Naftali Bennett would follow suit after Netanyahu rebuffed his efforts to succeed Bennett.
But Bennett didn’t step down, announcing on Nov. 19 that he has decided to “stand by the prime minister’s side” for the time being. While he was critical of Netanyahu’s handling of Hamas, he declared that he would help steer Netanyahu in the right direction.
“We think that there is no answer to terror, to rockets and mortars, but there is an answer — we can get back to winning,” Bennett said.
Netanyahu’s coalition currently hangs on by one vote. If Bennett resigned, Netanyahu’s coalition would have been in a minority, thus triggering early elections. Israel’s elections are currently set for November 2019.
Liberman’s resignation was sparked by the Israeli government’s most recent ceasefire agreement with Hamas after the Islamic terrorist group launched more than 460 rockets toward southern Israel; Liberman argued that the ceasefire amounted to surrender.
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