Knesset Dispersal Bill Moves Forward After All-Nighter in Knesset

A preliminary vote to disperse Knesset was passed 53-0 overnight Tuesday, putting the Knesset on a fast track to dissolution.

MKs are expected to hold the second and third votes on the bill Wednesday, after which it will become law.

The coalition and opposition agreed on the move after hours of rigorous negotiations over the timing of new elections and other procedural matters.

The two sides submitted Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 as possible dates on which the next elections could be held.

Additionally, the parties agreed that a proposed bill barring a person under an indictment from forming a government will not go forward in the current Knesset. The legislation is aimed at blocking Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu from coming back to power.

As per Likud’s request, campaign budgets allocated to each of the legislature’s parties will increase by a total of NIS 31.2 million ($9 million), pushing party funding alone to NIS 200 million ($58 million).

The dispersal of parliament, which was announced last week, hit a snag earlier on Monday after House Committee Chairman MK Nir Orbach pushed off the vote several times.

The rebel Yamina MK previously said he wanted to delay the dissolution of the Knesset to allow the right-wing bloc to form an alternative government within the current Knesset, thus avoiding Israel’s fifth snap election in just over three years.