EXPLAINER: Why is Israel always holding elections?

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — The leaders of Israel’s broad-based but severely weakened coalition government have thrown in the towel this week, after barely 12 months in office. They plan to dissolve parliament and set the stage for elections — the fifth in 3 1/2 years. Why does this keep happening? The simplest answer is that Israel is deeply — and almost evenly — divided over whether Benjamin Netanyahu should be prime minister. But it’s also because Israel’s political system consists of an ideologically diverse array of parties that have to form alliances — and sometimes break them — to get what they want.