In a 110-0 Vote, Law to Dissolve the Knesset Clears Preliminary Reading

The Knesset plenum approved today (Wednesday), in a preliminary reading, a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset by a vote of 110 members of Knesset, with no opponents and no abstentions. Approval of the measure now sends the bill to the discussion and preparation stage in Knesset committees.

The move came against the backdrop of the crisis between the Haredi parties and the coalition, while at the same time the coalition was trying to advance the draft law even before the Knesset dissolution process is completed. The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today held the first of the final three discussions required in order to approve the law in committee. The assessment in the political system is that if the law is approved, the election date could be pushed off until the end of October, despite the parallel advancement of the bill to dissolve the Knesset.

The Knesset plenum convened to discuss 13 different proposals to dissolve the Knesset, submitted both by the coalition and by members of Knesset from nearly all opposition factions. Behind the large number of proposals was a political struggle over control of the process and its timing. In the morning, it became clear that the Haredi parties would support Blue and White's bill together with the opposition, while also backing the coalition's proposal, with the goal of preserving influence over the continuation of the process.

The first proposal brought up for discussion was the coalition's, presented by coalition chairman Ofir Katz. During the debate, he said: "I don't understand why the opposition is holding press conferences. You caused the coalition to grow from 64 to 68, we are completing a full right-wing term, a record number of 9 budgets, 520 laws were approved. For 4 years we played against an empty net. We're talking about a few weeks one way or the other, this Knesset has served out its days."

In the end, members of Knesset from both the coalition and the opposition voted in favor of the preliminary reading of Katz's bill, which was approved unanimously.

In the political system, they are already discussing possible election dates if the dissolution process is completed. One option under consideration is to hold elections as early as September - on the 1st, 9th, or 15th of the month. Another option being examined is to hold the elections on October 27, the original date that had been planned. In the background, security considerations continue to hover over the decision-making process, among other things because of the war with Iran, which has not yet effectively ended, alongside legislation still awaiting completion and appointments that have not yet been approved.