Overview
- The Knesset gave a preliminary 110-0 vote to advance a dissolution bill on Wednesday, May 20, moving the legislation to committee where further readings and a final vote could set an election within roughly 90 days.
- Ultra‑Orthodox parties withdrew support after Mr. Netanyahu failed to deliver a promised law exempting yeshiva students from mandatory military service, a dispute that stripped the coalition of its majority and triggered the dissolution push.
- If the bill wins final approval through the required committee work and subsequent readings, election timing will be agreed in committee and then confirmed in a third plenary vote, a process that could take weeks.
- Opinion polls show Netanyahu trailing in head-to-head tests and the anti‑Netanyahu bloc short of the 61 seats needed to govern unless it secures cooperation from Arab parties, making small factions decisive in any new government.
- The vote adds to pressure on Netanyahu from his long-running corruption trial and mediated plea‑deal talks, and it reflects growing public anger over unequal military burdens after prolonged conflict that has strained reservists and public patience.