Israel set for fresh polls
Israeli lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament yesterday, paving the way for a new election after veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government before a midnight deadline. Netanyahu preferred a new ballot, set for Sept 17, to the alternative, under which Israeli President Reuven Rivlin could have asked another politician to try and form a ruling coalition. The election, Israel’s second this year after an April 9 poll, means unprecedented upheaval even for a country used to political infighting. The turmoil arose - officially, at least - from a feud over military conscription between Netanyahu’s presumed allies: ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right secularist, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties. Those parties want young religious scholars exempted, en masse from mandatory national service. But Lieberman and many other Israelis say they should share the burden.
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