Date designated on a memo circulated by the PMO regarding proposed legislation to dissolve the Knesset.
By JPOST.COM STAFFPrime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu calls early elections 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday chose January 22, 2013 as the date for Israel's 19th general elections.The date was designated on a memo circulated by the Prime Minister's Office regarding proposed legislation to dissolve the Knesset, expected to be tabled to the Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs on Sunday.Netanyahu ignited an expedited election campaign Tuesday night when he called for early elections to take place.In a statement delivered at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said that after completing a round of meetings with his coalition partners, he concluded he could not pass the 2013 state budget and has no choice but to initiate elections.“My obligation as prime minister is to put the national interest above all else, and therefore I decided that the good of Israel requires going to elections now, as soon as possible,” Netanyahu said.According to two public opinion polls published Thursday, Netanyahu stands to be the biggest beneficiary of his own decision to call early elections.One poll, commissioned and published by Maariv, saw Netanyahu's Likud increasing its seats in the Knesset to 29, up from 27. A second Haaretz poll projected a Likud-led coalition comprised mostly of religious and nationalist parties increasing to a commanding majority of 68 seats, up from 66.Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.
