Israel spared new vote as MPs pass budget

Israel’s parliament has passed a budget for the first time in three years, avoiding a November deadline that would have brought down the new government and triggered another election.

The marathon overnight voting on budget bills in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, was a major hurdle for the new government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose fractious coalition holds a narrow majority.

Failure to pass the budget by November 14 would have brought down the government that was sworn into office in June and triggered a fifth election in barely three years, giving former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu an opportunity to return to power.

Bennett celebrated on Twitter, writing that “after years of chaos – we formed a government, we overcame the Delta variant and now, thank God, we passed a budget for Israel”.