Israel to hold general elections on Oct 27: media

JERUSALEM -- Israel's ruling coalition announced on Sunday that the general elections for the Knesset, the country's parliament, will be held as originally scheduled on Oct 27 and will not be brought forward, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported.

According to Israeli law, general elections for parliament are supposed to be held every four years.

The election period will officially begin on July 17, when the Knesset will go into recess. From that point, the government will assume caretaker status and will be barred from advancing major policy initiatives, except for broadly agreed legislation, routine regulatory matters, or measures required to address security needs.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference in June that after the general elections expected in October, he wants to form a broad national government.

Netanyahu currently heads a narrow coalition that includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox factions. Most recent polls in the Israeli media have predicted that the current coalition factions will gain at most 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament, not enough for him to form a coalition again in the current structure.