"Israel" Dissolves Knesset, Sets January Date for Elections

Local Editor

"Israel's" Knesset voted Tuesday to dissolve itself and hold early elections on January 22, a move championed by "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whose coalition is leading in the opinion polls.

The dissolution of the Knesset was approved by 100 votes to none in a third reading after a lengthy session in the 120-seat chamber.
Last week Netanyahu announced he wanted to bring forward the election -- originally scheduled for October 2013 -- because of the current deadlock among coalition partners over the passage of a budget packed with austerity measures.

Opinion polls suggest that Likud party leader Netanyahu and his coalition of right-wing and religious parties will win comfortably given the fragmented opposition, regional tensions and the world economic crisis.
"I'm asking to hold elections on Tuesday, January 22, 2013," Netanyahu told the house at the start of the debate.

"In less than 100 days the "Israelis" will decide who will lead them in the face of the greatest security challenges which we have known since the founding of the state; who will lead them in the face of the toughest economic crisis the world has known in the past 80 years," he added.
"Israel", the Middle East's sole, if undeclared, nuclear power, did not rule out military action against Iran.
"Anyone who belittles the threat which a nuclear Iran poses to "Israel" is not worthy of leading "Israel" for even one day," Netanyahu told the Knesset.
He further claimed that "today, "Israel" has the capabilities to act against Iran and its satellites; capabilities that we did not possess in the past."
Following the decision to call an election, the Knesset is immediately dissolved and an election recess comes into force, marking the official start of campaigning.

In parallel, the "Israeli" leader said his decision to call a snap election was driven by the deadlock among coalition partners over the passage of a budget packed with austerity measures.
But commentators said Netanyahu had called an early vote to capitalize on his current standing in the polls, which show him holding a commanding lead over any potential rivals for the premiership.

Netanyahu did suffer a political blow over the weekend with the unexpected departure of his very popular communications and social affairs minister Moshe Kahlon.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org