Israel heads to fouth election as government collapses

Israel's fractious coalition government collapsed Tuesday, forcing the country into its fourth round of national elections in less than two years. The immediate cause was the failure of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, to pass an annual budget by a midnight deadline. Israel's longest-serving leader will also have to contend with a new rival from the right, Gideon Saar, a defector from Netanyahu's Likud party. An opinion poll on Israel's Kan public TV on Tuesday showed Saar drawing even with the prime minister.

Netanyahu, who has denied any criminal wrongdoing, and the current defence minister, centrist politician Benny Gantz, established a unity government in May after three inconclusive elections held since April 2019. "If an election is forced upon us, I promise you that we will win," Netanyahu said in a televised speech on Tuesday, blaming Gantz - who has plunged in the polls - for the early ballot. "Netanyahu is taking us to an election for the sole purpose of not going to jail," Gantz wrote on Twitter, alleging that Netanyahu hoped for a new government to promote legislation quashing legal proceedings against him.