Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced an early general election in January, 2013. Most pundits agreed he would lead his Likud party’s campaign for reelection on the security ticket, namely the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. Netanyahu explained his decision by his coalition partners’ refusal to make do with a “responsible budget” and  said he would rather have his government fall than increase the deficit, especially when the country’s top priority was stopping Iran gaining a nuclear bomb.

Read more: Netanyahu’s dilemma: Campaigning on a security ticket when Iran calls the shots.