Israel's Netanyahu accepts compromise, avoids election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he has accepted a proposal to extend budget negotiations, preventing the government from collapsing and plunging the country into a new election.

In a nationally televised address, Netanyahu said that now was not the time to drag the country into an unwanted election.

"Now is the time for unity. It's not the time for elections," he said.

Netanyahu and his rival and coalition partner, Benny Gantz, had faced a Monday night deadline to agree on a budget.

Otherwise, the government would have collapsed and automatically triggered a new vote, which would have been the fourth parliamentary elections in less than two years.