Knesset votes on expedited bill to dissolve, hold fresh elections

The Knesset Arrangements Committee approved on Wednesday the dispersal bill for the 22nd Knesset for a first call and vote in the plenum.

The rest of the required readings set to be fast-tracked through parliament by the end of the day, as a midnight deadline to either form a new government or hold fresh elections looms.

The speedy movement on the legislation comes after the Knesset Arrangements Committee agreed Wednesday morning to waive the usual period for passing a bill.

The legislation, voted upon in the three required calls in the plenum, will launch Israel into a third election cycle within 12 months.

Fifty MKs backed the bill in its preliminary readings. There were no abstentions.

Blue and White MK Avi Nissenkorn Presented the draft legislation, expressing his regret at the current stalemate that led to this point.

“My heart aches today and I think that is true of all Knesset members. I thought, or at least hoped, that the laws I would pass would be social legislation and not proposals for the dissolution of the Knesset, but this is what is happening now,” he said.