Now it is fact. Once again, the Knesset has passed a bill to dissolve, launching yet another election campaign, with Israel facing its third election for Knesset in a twelve-month period. The upcoming election will be for the 23rd Knesset, and the race officially began on Thursday morning, December 12, 2019, and Election Day is set for less than 90 days away.

Some of the upcoming relevant election-related dates include:
• December 23rd: Primaries in Likud
• January 8, 2020: Official publication of the list of registered voters
• January 14th: The deadline for submitting party lists
• February 1st: Publication of final lists competing in election
• February 17th: The beginning of election ads
• February 19th: Voting to begin in diplomatic facilities outside of Israel
• March 2nd: Election Day for 23rd Knesset (A Monday, not a Tuesday as is usually the case)
• March 10th: The official results of the Knesset election

One of the issues parties will have to battle against is voter complacency, as many voters are indicating they are fed up and they do not plan to vote in the upcoming election. Towards getting the message out, the lawmakers voted themselves a raise, increasing the budget for electioneering ahead of Election Day by tens of percent.

This has many outraged, “adding insult to injury” they explain, as if it were not bad enough that close to NIS 200 million is wasted on another election, not to mention the added cost to the economy if the day is a national holiday as is usually the case.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)