JERUSALEM: Israel edged closer to snap polls as a bill to dissolve parliament passed its first reading in the early hours of Tuesday morning, despite a general election last month.
Pitched into chaos by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to form a governing coalition after the April polls, the Knesset voted 66 to 44 in favor of a new election, tentatively scheduled for September 17, the parliament’s website said.
Later on Tuesday, a committee was to meet to prepare the bill for its second and third readings, which if passed would make the bill law.
No timetable was published for the two final votes on the legislation, which had passed an initial reading Monday night.
Netanyahu’s Likud party submitted the bill to dissolve parliament Monday as a Wednesday night deadline to form a viable coalition loomed with negotiations deadlocked.
Ex-defense minister Avigdor Lieberman has blocked a deal by refusing to budge from a key demand — and he showed no sign of backing down on Monday.
Lieberman is seeking a guarantee that legislation aimed at having ultra-Orthodox Jews perform mandatory military service — like other Jewish Israelis — be approved without changes.
His party controls five seats in parliament and Netanyahu needs his support for the coalition he is seeking.
If a deal is not reached by Wednesday night’s deadline, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin could give Netanyahu another two weeks if he concludes the premier is the only person capable of forming a government.
Alternatively, Rivlin could ask another member of parliament to take on the task.
Netanyahu is widely seen as preferring new elections rather than leaving the choice up to Rivlin, due to the possibility someone else could be selected.
Netanyahu could also seek to form a minority government.
Israel inches closer to snap election with overnight vote
Israel inches closer to snap election with overnight vote
- Later on Tuesday, a committee was to meet to prepare the bill for its second and third readings, which if passed would make the bill law
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely seen as preferring new elections
One killed in attack on oil tankers off Iraq, rescue operation ongoing: authorities
- Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had “deep concern” about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf, without providing details
BAGHDAD: An attack on two oil tankers near Iraq killed at least one crew member, authorities said on Thursday, as Iran carries out a campaign to disrupt global energy markets.
Farhan Al-Fartousi, from Iraq’s General Company for Ports, told state television that one crew member had been killed and 38 rescued while the “search continues for the missing.”
He did not specify the crew members’ nationalities or provide details on who was behind the attack, which occurred roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the coast.
The Iraqi government’s media cell told national news agency INA that “two tankers were subject to sabotage.”
Iraq’s oil ministry said in a statement on Thursday it had “deep concern” about incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf, without providing details.
“The safety of navigation in international maritime corridors and energy supply routes must remain free from regional conflicts,” the ministry added.
The Strait of Hormuz — the waterway carrying a fifth of the world’s oil — remains closed to almost all oil tankers, and Iran has vowed that not one liter of oil would be exported from the Gulf while its war with the United States and Israel continues.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that US forces have struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels more than a week into the Middle East war.
Images of a ship at sea with plumes of smoke rising from a huge fire, were broadcast by state television channel Al-Ikhbariya. AFP could not verify the images.
An employee at Iraq’s Basra oil terminal told AFP that it was unclear “whether it was a drone attack or explosive-laden boats.”
The Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) confirmed in a statement that two oil tankers were attacked, without providing details on how.
Maltese-flagged oil tanker ZEFYROS was attacked as it was preparing to enter the port of Khor Al-Zoubair, where it would have taken on board an additional 30,000 tons of liquid naphtha — primarily used in petrochemicals, SOMO said.
The second targeted vessel, SAFESEA VISHNU, was sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and was chartered by an Iraqi company, according to SOMO.
The incidents come just hours after the US embassy in Baghdad warned that Iran and Tehran-backed Iraqi armed groups might target US-owned oil facilities in Iraq.
