JERUSALEM, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a memo seeking to dissolve the Knesset Thursday and set general elections for Jan. 22.
The date for the country's 19th general elections comes just days after Netanyahu called for early elections in a televised address on national television.
"My obligation as prime minister is to put the national interests above all else, and therefore I decided that the good of Israel requires going to elections now, as soon as possible," The Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. Netanyahu said he had no choice but to initiate early elections after the 2013 state budget failed to pass.
The Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs is expected Sunday to discuss the proposed legislation to dissolve the Knesset, which will be brought before the parliamentary body for a vote on Monday.
