Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday his faction was preparing for an election but has not ruled out forming an alternative government without holding a snap vote.
The former prime minister made the comments shortly after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid announced their intention to introduce a bill that would dissolve the Knesset, triggering Israel's fifth snap election in just three years.
"Something big has happened here today. People are smiling tonight because they feel we are getting rid of the worst government in the history of Israel," Netanyahu told reporters, adding that he will not form a coalition with Islamist Ra'am party chair, Mansour Abbas.