MKs vote to disperse Knesset ahead of elections
20th Israeli parliament, elected in 2015, ends 11 months shy of full tenure as coalition leaders opt for April 9 ballot.
The vote took place on Wednesday evening, 105 MKs voted for the government-initiated bill; none objected. Other votes to disperse the Knesset, initiated by several different MKs, were also approved during the assembly.
Several MKs referred to the Knesset’s term coming to its end in speeches given in the assembly.
Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said the current term has been fruitful, and that “great thing have been achieved” by the government and the entire coalition. He mentioned the Nation State Law as one of these achievements, and called it “one of the most important bills ever passed in the Israeli Knesset,” alongside the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said “this is an exciting moment,” and said that “the public knows there are investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but has also heard him firmly declare his innocence.”
“It’s unheard of that the decision of a clerk—even a senior and an honest one like Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit—will cause a prime minister to have to leave office, as if the decision that the public took during elections means nothing.”
