Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Avoids Government Collapse

TEL AVIV—An Israeli lawmaker who quit the government this past week decided to rejoin the ruling, yet shaky, coalition helping Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to stay in power and avoid new elections for the time being.

The sudden resignation on Thursday of Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi, an Arab lawmaker from the left-wing Meretz party, brought Mr. Bennett’s coalition down to 59 seats out of 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. With Ms. Rinawie Zoabi’s return, Mr. Bennett’s coalition now counts 60 seats, split evenly with the opposition. The opposition needs 61 lawmakers to vote to dissolve the parliament and send Israel to its fifth election in a little over three years.