Israel advances bill for early elections; understand

The Israeli parliament approved in first reading a bill to dissolve the Knesset and call early elections, but the future of the bill and the exact date of the elections are still uncertain.

The bill, voted on in the early hours of Tuesday, local time (Monday night, in Brasília), was approved by 106 votes to 0 and provides for elections to take place between September 8th and October 20th.

If approved, the project would bring forward the elections by just a few weeks, as they must be held by October 27th.

The bill needs to go through two more readings before it becomes law and formally dissolves the Knesset. Only in these readings will the project authors need to define the date of the elections.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox coalition partners pushed for the bill's passage due to the Knesset's failure to enshrine into law an exemption that would allow ultra-Orthodox men to avoid mandatory military service in Israel.

It is unclear when the bill might be presented for a second and third reading, and Netanyahu could likely delay it for several weeks.

Source: CNN