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| - For more than a year, Israel has been in the grips of one of its worst-ever political crises, which has dragged on despite the coronavirus pandemic. Here is a recap of the saga. On December 24, 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party announces that all the parties in the ruling coalition have agreed to hold legislative elections in April 2019. A month earlier, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the ultra-nationalist Israel Beiteinou, had resigned as defence minister over a Gaza ceasefire deal he considered a "capitulation to terror". On December 26, the Knesset, Israel's parliament, votes to dissolve itself. In April 9, 2019 polls, Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving prime minister having been in power since 2009, hopes to get re-elected despite being dogged by corruption allegations. Netanyahu's Likud and the Blue and White alliance of ex-military chief and centrist challenger Benny Gantz come neck and neck. Parliament chooses Netanyahu, who has support from smaller right-wing parties, to take first turn at trying to form a majority government. But after weeks of political bargaining, he is unable to command a majority in the 120-seat parliament. The deadline expires and parliament agrees to hold a new election. After voting ends on September 17, exit polls show another neck-and-neck race between the parties of Netanyahu and Gantz. In a surprise bid on September 19, Netanyahu proposes a unity government to Gantz, who replies he would have to be the prime minister. Complete official results released on September 25 confirm a deadlock, putting Gantz's party at 33 seats against Likud's 32. Even with their respective allies, neither can muster the 61 seats they need for a majority. On September 25, President Reuven Rivlin tasks Netanyahu with forming a government within 28 days. Gantz refuses to join Netanyahu, citing his potential indictment on corruption charges. On October 21, Netanyahu announces he has failed. Rivlin hands the task to Gantz. On November 8, Netanyahu appoints as defence minister Naftali Bennett and says his New Right party will join Likud. This gives Netanyahu's party 35 seats -- two ahead of Gantz's Blue and White. On November 20, Gantz informs Rivlin hours before his deadline is up that he too has been unable to form a government. The next day, the attorney general charges Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. It is the first time a sitting prime minister is to be put on trial in the country. Netanyahu rejects the charges, saying it is an attempt to remove him from government. On December 11, as the deadline passes for parliament to find a head of government, lawmakers call a new election for March 2, 2020. On election day, Likud wins the most seats -- 36 against the 33 for Gantz's party. On March 15, an Israeli court postpones Netanyahu's graft trial amid fears of the spread of the new coronavirus. The following day, Gantz, backed by 61 lawmakers, is nominated to try to form a new government, but once again fails. On March 26 however, Gantz is elected parliament speaker, raising fresh hopes of a unity government. Overnight April 13-14 Rivlin gives Netanyahu and Gantz an extra 48 hours to form a new government. acm-eab/jmy/jj
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