The bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum early Tuesday morning by a majority of 106 MKs, with no opposition.
Following the vote, coalition chairman Ofir Katz, who sponsored the bill, stated that "the projected timeframe for the elections is between September 8 and October 20."
Now that the bill has cleared its first reading, it will be sent back to the House Committee to be prepared for its second and third readings. The final, exact date for the elections will only be locked in once those subsequent readings are approved by the plenum.
This development follows a session two weeks ago, in which the Knesset plenum approved 13 different preliminary-reading bills to dissolve parliament. Those bills had been submitted by both the coalition and nearly all opposition factions.
While the opposition expressed support for all the proposed bills, the coalition decided at this stage to advance only its own proposal alongside a bill from the Blue and White faction, officially kicking off the race to the ballot box.