Israel Elections Set for Jan. 22

By JTA October 11, 2012

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that national elections will be held on Jan. 22.

The date was released Thursday by the Prime Minister’s Office, as it appears on the draft of the bill that would dissolve the current Knesset.

The elections for the 19th Knesset will be held about one year earlier than they were scheduled and four years since the last election.

The Knesset Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs will take up the bill on Oct. 14. The Knesset’s winter session is set to begin the next day, when it will likely consider the dissolution bill.

Netanyahu announced on Tuesday, after consulting with his coalition partners, that the country would go to early elections, saying that it was impossible to pass the 2013 budget without first holding elections.

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