The Knesset, which was scheduled to break for its summer recess Friday, will not reconvene before the elections scheduled for Oct. 27.
Israeli lawmakers attend a parliamentary session in Jerusalem on Wednesday for a vote on a bill that would change the authority and responsibilities of the attorney general.
Israel’s parliament dissolved Friday, clearing the way for Oct. 27 elections as the country nears the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks and a grinding war. In marathon final sessions, lawmakers rushed through contentious bills easing ultra-Orthodox draft obligations and expanding government control over courts and media, intensifying concerns about democratic checks on Netanyahu’s rule.
The dissolution caps a rare full four-year term in Israel, where governments typically fall early and voters head to the polls every 2.4 years, underscoring deep political volatility. Israel’s parliament dissolved early Friday after passing a marathon of bills in the last moments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition. The Knesset, which was scheduled to break for its summer recess on Friday, will not reconvene before the elections scheduled on Oct. 27.
The expected dissolution comes as Netanyahu is struggling to hold onto power ahead of the next elections as Israel grinds toward the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack that sparked nearly three years of war. Israeli polls are showing a groundswell of support for opposition parties, led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and a popular centrist former military chief.
Over the past week, the Knesset passed several controversial laws in marathon sessions as Netanyahu attempted to ram through several of his pet projects. Earlier this week, the Knesset passed two bills that effectively halt the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men in the military in an attempt to ensure ultra-Orthodox parties join Netanyahu’s coalition in the next government.
The Knesset also recently passed several bills connected with Netanyahu’s attempts to overhaul the judiciary, including increasing government control over broadcast media and weakening the role of the attorney general. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has opposed the overhaul, and been a frequent target of Netanyahu and the Israeli right.
“We are completing a four-year term, we passed nine budgets and hundreds of bills, I thank you for the trust you placed in me, through which together we succeeded in maintaining a four-year term,” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said as he announced the dissolution. The last time Israel’s government fulfilled a full term without breaking for early elections was in 1988.
Israel has no term limits, and Netanyahu has served more terms than any other prime minister in Israel’s history, but it is rare even for him to finish a full, four-year term. Between 2019 and 2022, Israelis went to the polls five times. Israel holds elections on average every 2.4 years, making it second-lowest ranked country in the OECD for periods between elections, a marker of political instability, according to the Israel Democracy Institute.
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