Netanyahu calls for early general election in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an early general election in four months' time. The vote is expected to take place in September, a year before he is required by law to seek a new mandate.

Mr Netanyahu leads a centre-right coalition which includes his own Likud and ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu. Mr Netanyahu has been prime minister since 2009. Opinion polls suggest that he is by some distance the most popular politician in Israel. He told a meeting of party workers in Tel Aviv that he didn't want "a year and a half of political instability accompanied by blackmail and populism". After listing the accomplishments of his government, he said he would like to lead a broadly based coalition after the election. The BBC's Wyre Davis in Jerusalem says the timing of the decision may be partly due to a recent souring of relations with a junior coalition partner, Nationalist Israel Beiteinu party, over plans to require ultra-religious Jews to do army service. It could also be a move to strengthen his own position if Barack Obama wins another term as US president later this year. The two leaders have disagreed on Israel's relations with the Palestinians. Many on the Israeli right are concerned that Mr Obama might pressure both sides to re-start talks, having failed to do so in his first term.