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Coalition Heads Move to Disband Knesset – Elections To Be Held in April

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Israel’s general elections will be held in April, seven months ahead of their scheduled date in November 2019, the Coalition party heads decided on Monday afternoon, after being unsuccessful in finding a compromise for the Draft Law which would appease all Coalition members.

On December 2nd, Israel’s High Court for Justice granted the government an additional 45 days to finalize an agreed upon version of the Draft Law after the original deadline expired. The new deadline set was January 15, 2019, by which time the Coalition parties must present a new version of the law to replace the previous one which the HCJ ruled to be unconstitutional as it stands against the principal of equality. On Monday morning, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called a meeting of the Coalition party heads, at the end of which the disbandment of the Knesset was announced.

“Out of fiscal and national responsibility, the Coalition party heads have unanimously decided to disband the Knesset and go to elections in early April,” a joint statement of the Coalition heads read, adding that the government will continue to function throughout the election process.

After current Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday that elections will be held on April 9, 2019, he assured his Likud Party that he will win re-election and maintain the current governing coalition.

The projection may be subject to change, however, were Netanyahu to be charged by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in the corruption investigations launched against him.

Earlier this month, Israeli police recommended indicting the prime minister and his wife, Sara, on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust for trading favorable government treatment of the Bezeq communications company in exchange for positive coverage on the Walla news site, both owned by Shaul Elovitch.

Netanyahu cautioned in a meeting closed to the media that “there are no guarantees, and we will have to fight mightily.”

“The real test will come in mobilizing our base—persuading our people to vote Likud, not for anyone else, and to show up and vote,” he said, according to a Likud statement. “If we manage to do this, we’ll win.”

Finally, it is unknown if the elections will affect the rollout of the highly anticipated U.S. Mideast peace plan, called the “deal of the century” by the Trump administration.

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment, citing the agency operating on “a reduced status” due to the partial U.S. government shutdown that started on Saturday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

             (TPS & WIN)

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