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Knesset to vote on dissolution bill

The bill to dissolve Israel’s parliament passed a preliminary reading 110-0 on May 20.

Ofir Katz, chairman of the Special Committee on Amendments to Basic Law: The Government, leads a committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 19, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Ofir Katz, chairman of the Special Committee on Amendments to Basic Law: The Government, leads a committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 19, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

The Knesset House Committee is set to discuss the bill to dissolve parliament on Monday ahead of a first plenary vote that same day, coalition whip Ofir Katz said on Wednesday.

The dissolution bill passed a preliminary reading 110-0 on May 20, sending it to the Knesset House Committee for consideration ahead of additional plenary votes, though coalition lawmakers initially showed little urgency to dissolve parliament.

Accordingly, Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 are no longer under consideration as possible dates for the election, while Sept. 8 remains a possibility, Israel Hayom reported on Wednesday. Other dates that month are not feasible due to their proximity to the Jewish holidays.

In addition, there appear to be three remaining possible dates in October: Oct. 13, Oct. 20 or Oct. 27—the latter being the deadline for holding elections.

Rabbi Dov Lando, a leading figure in the Jewish state’s Lithuanian Haredi community, earlier this month ordered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners to “work toward dissolving the Knesset as soon as possible.”

Lando’s statement came after Netanyahu reportedly told Haredi parties there was currently no majority to pass legislation regulating the exemption of some yeshivah students from Israel Defense Forces service.

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