On July 12 local time, Israel's Parliament Counselor Sagiit Afik announced that the parliament would be dissolved on July 17, and elections were scheduled to take place on October 27 this year. This will be the first parliamentary election in Israel in nearly 40 years that is held as planned.
According to the Israel Times, Aferk stated during a committee discussion in the Israeli Parliament on the 12th: “This parliament will complete its full term and will not be dissolved prematurely. The election date will still be set by law on October 27th.” This is the latest election date allowed by Israeli law.
This will be Israel’s first parliamentary election since 1988, and the current government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu will become the first Israeli government to complete a full term since 1973.
The statement comes as Israel’s ruling coalition is launching a “legislation campaign” to push through as many legislative votes as possible before the parliament is dissolved. These initiatives involve controversial bills related to military service and judicial reform.
Israeli Knesset IC photo
The current government is Israel's 37th government. It was established after the collapse of the Bennett-Lapid coalition on December 29, 2022. It consists of the Likud party led by Netanyahu, several ultra-orthodox parties, and far-right political groups. It is regarded by the outside world as Israel's "most right-wing government in history".
This governing coalition has faced the risk of collapse several times, and there are significant differences among political parties regarding the issue of exemption from military service for religious groups. After a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict erupted in 2023, Israeli far-right parties threatened to overthrow the government and opposed any agreement with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to exchange detained persons in exchange for a ceasefire.
According to The Israel Times, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Likud party and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, has announced the launch of parliamentary campaign activities. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Benett and Yair Lapid have also formed a coalition party called ‘Solidarity’, aiming to defeat Netanyahu in this election.
Israel has 120 seats in its parliament. Recent polls indicate that if elections are held now, the ruling coalition led by Netanyahu may not obtain the majority required to form a new government. The support rate of the Zionist opposition party coalition is comparable to that of Netanyahu’s coalition.
