Resignation Hobbles Netanyahu

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JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu cheated defeat again Monday and passed his budget despite the resignation on Sunday of his Foreign Minister David Levy. But the loss of Levy has hobbled Netanyahu, says TIME Jerusalem Bureau Chief Lisa Beyer, and the Prime Minister will likely face new elections within six months.

Levys resignation was prompted both by a budget that he believed failed Israels poor and by the stagnation in Israeli peace efforts the foreign minister had made no effort to conceal his frustration at Netanyahus disregard for Israels commitments in the peace process. Beyer says a bitter personal rivalry between the two men also prompted Levy to choose a critical moment to pull the plug on Netanyahus government.

In the Knesset, Netanyahu retains only the slimmest of majorities; a single defection would bring down his government, says Beyer. "And many members of his own party have openly conspired against him," she says. "Netanyahu has a knack for surviving. But this is his deepest crisis yet."