Israel Agrees to Early Elections, Sets April 9 Date

Following a failure to advance a bill on the military draft of ultra-Orthodox men, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has been unanimously agreed to be dissolved to set the stage for early elections.

Questions about the draft of the ultra-Orthodox have been an ongoing split in Israel, and the Supreme Court has been pushing a bill to be passed soon to settle the matte, the election means further extensions are likely.

Though this is an early election, moving the vote to April 9 will allow Israel’s outgoing government to claim that they served a full four year term. With just 61 out of 120 seats left since Avigdor Lieberman’s party withdrew last month. This left the collapse just a matter of time.

While the draft is likely to be a major election topic, analysts say it may be overshadowed by corruption investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some say they believe the early election is designed to give Netanyahu some cover from the charges.