The Knesset plenum passed the party funding law early Friday morning, which includes a provision to dissolve the 25th Knesset before the election period begins.
The bill was approved by a majority of 62 votes, with no opposition.
"We are completing a four year term, we have passed nine budgets, hundreds of laws," said Coalition whip Ofir Katz ahead of the bill's passing
The dissolution of the Knesset signifies the conclusion of the current parliamentary term and initiates the electoral process. Israelis will return to the polls at the end of October to elect a new government.
Following the vote, Knesset speaker Amir Ohana addressed the Knesset plenum.
“I think it is fair to say that this was the most challenging Knesset in the institution’s history.” He stated.
Knesset served 'most difficult war in the country’s history' says Ohana
“It witnessed protests of various kinds and served during the longest and most difficult war in the country’s history. It stood alongside the bereaved families, the residents evacuated from the north and south, the wounded and those suffering from combat trauma, and the families of the hostages, whose photographs remained in the Knesset plenum for most of its term, until every last hostage was returned.”
He continued, “We are entering an election campaign that will naturally be characterized by sharper positions and a struggle between competing ideas. However, I hope that we will return here soon and remember that, despite all our disagreements, we are not enemies, God forbid, but partners, even when we are rivals, and that we are all members of one people and one country.”
In the final days of the Knesset session, lawmakers approved an unusually extensive series of bills concerning security, national memorial, and social issues.
Among the last bills passed was a first-reading bill allowing ambulance transportation for women in labor and enabling the National Insurance Institute to partner with additional organizations for maternity transportation services.
Lawmakers also gave final approval to the Law for the Remembrance of the Massacre and the Commemoration of Heroism on Simchat Torah, October 7 2023.
The Law for the Establishment of a Center to Commemorate Rabbi Nachman of Breslov advanced in its first reading, and the Negev Development Authority Law passed its final readings.
Torah study and extension of mandatory military service
One of the most controversial aspects of recent legislative efforts was the passage of a contentious law promoted by the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) parties, which establishes Torah study as a fundamental value in the country’s Basic Law, which critics argue encourages draft evasion, even amid the IDF’s severe manpower crisis.
Following this, a temporary bill was enacted to extend mandatory military service to 32 months, which aims to support the IDF in addressing its manpower needs and responding to current security challenges.
Its passing has further fueled political and public outrage over Torah study law’s consequential protection of hardedi draft evasion.
Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Liberman accused the coalition of hypocrisy in a late-Thursday post on X/Twitter.
"The hypocrisy of the coalition screams to the heavens," Liberman wrote. "Those same ultra-Orthodox parties that just this week led a bill preventing the arrest of draft dodgers voted today in favor of extending the mandatory service of IDF soldiers who have been fighting bravely since October 7 on four fronts."
Keshet Neev and Miriam Sela-Eitam contributed to this report.