Israel's Likud party secures votes to dissolve Knesset

JERUSALEM

The Likud Party on Wednesday announced it had secured the necessary number of votes to dissolve the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), according to local media reports.

Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Likud MP Mickey Zuhr had confirmed the vote numbers after submitting a bill to dissolve the assembly.

The bill, however, must still be approved in its second and third readings by the 120-member Knesset.

The move represents an escalation by the Likud to force former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to back down from demands to pass the so-called ultra-orthodox “conscription law”.

Under Israeli law, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the Likud, has until midnight Wednesday (local time) to draw up a coalition government.

If he fails to do so, the party plans to dissolve the Knesset and call fresh elections within the next three months.

Netanyahu won a record fifth term in office in April 9 polls in which his Likud also clinched 36 Knesset seats.