Israel MPs to vote on opposition bid to dissolve parliament - Region

Al-Ahram Weekly

a day ago

Israeli lawmakers will vote Wednesday on a bill submitted by the opposition to dissolve parliament, which if successful could start paving the way to a snap election.
While the opposition is composed mainly of centrist and leftist groups, ultra-Orthodox parties that are propping up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government are also threatening to back the motion.
If the bill wins a majority at Wednesday's plenum, three more rounds of voting will be required to dissolve the Knesset.
"The opposition faction leaders have decided to bring the bill to dissolve the Knesset to a vote in the Knesset plenum today. The decision was made unanimously and is binding on all factions," the leaders said in a statement.
They added that all opposition parties would freeze their ongoing legislation to focus on "the overthrow of the government".
The ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties threatened to back the motion for early elections amid a row over compulsory military service.
Netanyahu's government, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, has been pushing to reverse the long-standing exemption from the draft for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The exemption has faced growing criticism as Israel wages war in Gaza, with Netanyahu under pressure from within his Likud party to draft more ultra-Orthodox men and impose penalties on draft dodgers -- a red line for Shas.
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