Israel’s government must pass the state budget by March 31, or the Knesset dissolves automatically, and elections are held roughly three months later, per Israeli law.
The rule applies each year, and after a new government is formed, the deadline is set by law, with the clock beginning at the government’s establishment.
By law, failure to pass the budget by March 31 leads to an automatic collapse of the government and snap elections within about 90 days. Ministers and coalition leaders routinely warn that legislative timetables must align with this hard deadline to keep the government in office.
Has Israel ever gone to elections because a budget failed?
In December 2020, the Knesset was dissolved after the unity government missed the extended budget deadline, sending Israel to a March 2021 vote.
Ahead of that collapse, the Knesset had already pushed off the original deadline to avoid immediate elections, but the compromise fell apart, and dispersal became automatic.
Can the deadline be delayed?
The Knesset can pass a special law to postpone the deadline, and has done so during crises to avert immediate elections.
In August 2020, lawmakers approved a delay to buy time for negotiations between then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz. Such extensions are politically fraught and do not guarantee a final budget.
Governments often rush legislative procedures to meet the March 31 cutoff. In multiple budget cycles, coalition officials have cited the automatic fall provision while pushing the bill through committee and plenum stages.