Israeli centrist party proposes vote to dissolve parliament

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz’s centrist party has proposed holding a vote to dissolve parliament in a bid to bring about an early election, his party said in a statement on Thursday.

The move follows an ultimatum that Gantz issued this month, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to a day-after plan for the Gaza war by June 8. He threatened to quit the coalition if no such plan was forthcoming.

Gantz joined Netanyahu’s government shortly after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7 last year that sparked the war in Gaza.

Gantz’s centrist bloc split up in March and his party does not on its own control enough seats in parliament to bring down the ruling coalition. Netanyahu’s Likud responded to Gantz’s latest move by saying that Israel needs unity and that disbanding the government would hurt the war effort.