Preliminary Vote to Dissolve Knesset Set for Wednesday
If ultimately passed into law, the measure would trigger early elections. The country is already required to hold elections no later than October 27, but dissolution would allow lawmakers to set an earlier date.
A preliminary vote to dissolve the Knesset is expected Wednesday, after the coalition failed to pass legislation anchoring broad military conscription exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.
If ultimately passed into law, the measure would trigger early elections. The country is already required to hold elections no later than October 27, but dissolution would allow lawmakers to set an earlier date. The Haredi parties are reportedly pushing for elections in early September.
Ahead of the planned vote, all bills were removed from the Knesset plenum agenda for a second consecutive day. The plenum is currently scheduled to hold only speeches marking Jerusalem Day, Ethiopian Jewish immigration and National Students Day.
The exact timeline for the dissolution bill remains unclear. After a preliminary vote, the legislation would need to be sent to a committee and then return to the plenum for three additional readings. It is expected to move quickly if there is sufficient political backing.
Even passage of the preliminary reading could complicate the coalition’s remaining legislative agenda, particularly on election-related proposals such as lowering the voting age or raising the electoral threshold.
According to Ynet, Democrats chairman Yair Golan urged other Zionist opposition leaders to hold a joint press conference ahead of the vote to project unity. The letter was reportedly sent to Together leaders Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot, and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.
“We must stand together, shoulder to shoulder in front of the public,” Golan was quoted as writing, calling the moment critical and saying the opposition should show it is united for “a secure, democratic, liberal, and equal Israel.”
The move comes as ultra-Orthodox political sources reject claims from officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he has secured a majority to pass the draft exemption bill before the government’s term ends.
A senior Prime Minister’s Office official said Tuesday that Netanyahu had pressured coalition holdouts and achieved the necessary majority. But a senior United Torah Judaism figure dismissed the claim as “nonsense,” while a spokesman for Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni said no such message had been received.
“He doesn’t need to give notice. He should just bring the bill to a vote,” the spokesman said.
Haredi leaders called for dissolving the Knesset last week after Netanyahu told them his coalition lacked a majority to pass the exemption bill in the current parliament.
Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are believed to be eligible for military service but have not enlisted, despite a continuing IDF manpower shortage.
The High Court ruled in June 2024 that there was no legal basis for the long-standing blanket exemption for Haredi yeshiva students. The coalition bill was meant to create a new legal framework, but critics say it would preserve broad exemptions while offering only limited increases in Haredi enlistment.
The bill has faced opposition from within Netanyahu’s coalition and failed to advance after disputes with Degel HaTorah’s rabbinic leadership.