JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called early parliamentary elections for this winter, roughly eight months ahead of schedule, a move many analysts said was likely to allow him to strengthen his coalition.
Netanyahu said he’d decided to call early elections after he failed to reach an agreement within his coalition on cuts in the country’s 2013 budget. He cited the potential impact on the economy as one reason for quicker elections.
“For Israel, it is preferable to have as short a campaign as possible, one of three months over one that would last in practice an entire year and damage Israel’s economy," he said.
Political analysts said, however, that they think Netanyahu moved now to take advantage of his relatively high standing in public opinion polls.
