Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing a collapse of his coalition and looming legal problems, on Monday announced the dissolution of Israel’s current parliament, with elections set for April 9.
Under Israeli law, elections would ordinarily have been held by November 2019, when Netanyahu’s current four-year term is to end. Early elections, however, had appeared likely ever since Netanyahu’s coalition was left hanging by a parliamentary majority of a single vote following last month’s resignation by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Netanyahu, who remains by far the most popular party leader in Israel’s rambunctious multiparty polity, faces several steep challenges in the coming months.
The highest hurdle may be his own legal predicament. He appears sure to be indicted following police and state attorney recommendations that he be prosecuted on several corruption charges.
https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-israel-early-elections-20181224-story.html
