Lawmakers set to hold preliminary vote on bill to dissolve Knesset, trigger elections

By Sam Sokol 20 May 2026, 10:07 am

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

The Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, May 13, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Lawmakers are set to vote today on a preliminary reading of a bill to dissolve the Knesset, which could trigger slightly earlier elections.

The parliamentary plenum is set to begin at 11 a.m.

After clearing its preliminary reading, the bill will still need to undergo committee deliberations and clear three more Knesset readings before becoming law, but the legislation is expected to be swiftly pushed through the Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s erstwhile allies in the United Torah Judaism party announced last week that they would push to dissolve the Knesset.

In response, in an effort to control both the legislative process and the timing of the elections, Coalition Whip Ofir Katz submitted legislation calling for new elections to be held, which would see the the country go to the polls no less than three months from the bill’s final approval, with the date of the election to be determined by the Knesset House Committee.

The House Committee is chaired by the Likud’s Katz.

The bill was cosponsored by lawmakers from UTJ, Shas, New Hope, Religious Zionism, and Otzma Yehudit parties. Similar bills were submitted by the opposition as well.

If lawmakers vote to dissolve the Knesset, elections must be held within five months of the vote passing, which would mean mid- to late-October at latest. The Haredi parties reportedly favor an election date in early September. Elections must in any case be held by October 27.

Netanyahu has reportedly urged the ultra-Orthodox parties not to force early elections in September, warning in private conversations that such a timeline would “endanger” the right-wing bloc’s chances of winning.

In an effort to win the Haredim over and avoid a September election date, Netanyahu placed the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox draft exemption bill back on the parliamentary agenda, with a discussion currently taking place in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Netanyahu’s suggestion was rejected by the ultra-Orthodox, with Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando telling lawmakers earlier this week “not to get drawn into political games and to support the dissolution of the Knesset.”