Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik recommends that the Knesset be dissolved on July 17, 101 days before the election, which must be held by October 27.
Under that timetable, July 16, a Thursday, would be the final day of the Knesset’s current term before entering its pre-election recess.
Speaking during a House Committee meeting, Afik notes that the law requires the Knesset to dissolve between 90 and 150 days before an election and that “in the unique circumstances of this Knesset, the appropriate date for its dissolution is July 17.”
Because the high holidays fall within the statutory election period, the Knesset would need to dissolve slightly earlier than the minimum 90-day threshold to allow elections to be held by the legal deadline.
Afik says that dissolving the Knesset on July 17 would “create legislative transparency” and provide stability for the Knesset Legal Department as regular legislative work gives way to the restrictions governing the election period, thereby avoiding “unnecessary disputes” over when those limitations take effect.
Hebrew media reported earlier this week that Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, of Likud, had told coalition lawmakers the Knesset was expected to dissolve on that date.
The Knesset last month approved in a preliminary reading a coalition-backed bill to dissolve itself and potentially trigger early elections after the ultra-Orthodox parties threatened to bring down the government over its failure to advance legislation preserving military exemptions for yeshiva students.
The bill has since stalled as the coalition instead began advancing the Haredi-backed legislation at the heart of the dispute, including a proposed Basic Law on Torah study intended to shield draft evaders from sanctions.
