国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Israel heads to early elections as Netanyahu faces corruption indictment

JERUSALEM, Dec. 25 -- Israeli ruling coalition's decision on Monday to dissolve the parliament and hold early elections has led the country into a three-month rocky election campaign, as incumbent Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu is under investigation over corruption allegations.

A decision by the Israeli attorney general on whether to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looming, although no specific date has been set.

Heads of Netanyahu's six coalition parties issued a statement on Monday, saying they "unanimously agreed" to dissolve the Knesset (parliament) and go for early elections.

The parliament is expected to disperse on Wednesday and the elections will be held on April 9, 2019.

The surprise announcement came after it became apparent that Netanyahu's narrow coalition could not secure a vote on a contentious law about drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli military.

For months, there has been speculation that the Israeli leader will bring forward the elections originally scheduled for November 2019.

Political analysts said Netanyahu prefers to head to the polls while being still under investigation rather than already indicted, as some of his coalition partners have vowed to demand his resignation once he is under indictment.

"The prime minister understands that the noose around his neck is tightening," said Zehava Galon, former member of parliament and former head of the left-wing Meretz party.

So far, Netanyahu has categorically denied all allegations, saying "there will be nothing, because there is nothing."

Israeli media has reported that General Attorney Avichai Mandelblit said his decision on the indictment is independent from the political timeline.

However, Mandelblit also said he would not publish the decision around the time of elections, with an apparent aim not to influence the democratic process.

"The timing for Netanyahu now is perfect," Galon told Xinhua.

Netanyahu, who also served a short term as Prime Minister in the 1990s, has been Israel's top leader for the past decade.

His current four-year tenure is the longest one in decades in a country known for plenty of political turbulence.

For Netanyahu, the upside of the surprise move to call snap elections is that it will be unlikely for several of his strong challengers, such as former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Benny Gantz, to form a party in such a short period of time.

According to several polls, Gantz would be a close second behind Netanyahu and might take a bite from some of his voters.

But now being caught off guard, Gantz will be most likely forced to merge into an existing party.

A poll conducted by the Maariv newspaper hours after the announcement of the early elections showed that Netanyahu's Likud party will win 30 seats in parliament, the same number as it has now.

Netanyahu has been leading in polls for years, with no challenger significantly threatening him. Still, the ongoing corruption investigations are likely to make the upcoming election a real risk for the leader.

The snowball effect of early elections began in mid-November when then Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who accused Netanyahu of being weak in face of frequent attacks from the Gaza Strip, resigned from the government, in a sign of deep divisions within Netanyahu's ruling coalition.

However, the real driver of the decision to call early elections was perhaps the announcement by State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan last week that the police had completed investigations and his office would soon submit recommendations for the attorney general.

"A corruption indictment means the end of Netanyahu's political career ... He cannot afford to limply run in an election campaign," said Reuven Hazan, a professor at the political science department of Hebrew University.

But even if his indictment came ahead of the elections, the complex procedure entailed for charging a sitting prime minister will take so much time that Netanyahu may continue to serve for more time, Galon noted.

Notably, the opposition in Israel has yet to find a candidate with enough political clout to threaten Netanyahu.