Israel faces new elections after parliament dissolves
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Israel faces an unprecedented snap election campaign — the second this year — after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition and dissolved parliament instead.
Israel's newly elected Knesset dissolved itself early on Thursday and set a new election date for Sept. 17.
It's a shocking setback from Netanyahu, who had appeared to secure a comfortable win in last month's election. But he was unable to build a parliamentary majority to rule because a traditional ally, Avigdor Lieberman, refused to bring his Yisrael Beiteinu faction into the coalition.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Netanyahu, who has led Israel for the past decade, now faces another challenge to his lengthy rule. It comes as he prepares for a pre-indictment hearing before expected criminal charges against him in a series of corruption cases.