Netanyahu calls for direct PM election amidst deadlock

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today called for a head-to-head runoff vote between him and his main rival Benny Gantz, as a political stalemate threatens to dissolve the parliament. The Israeli parliament or Knesset will be dissolved and the country will go for its third round of elections in less than a year if lawmakers fail to agree on a coalition government in the next three days.

Both Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party has been unable to form a coalition.
Blue and White party dismissed the proposal, saying in a statement that the party is engaged in efforts to avoid costly and unnecessary elections.

Israel has an electoral system with elections based on votes for parties, not for specific candidates. The party that wins the largest number of votes gets to form a government. However, in the last two rounds of elections which were held in April and September, no party gained enough votes to establish a governing coalition.