Israeli leader calls for early elections

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered new parliamentary elections Tuesday for early 2013, roughly eight months ahead of schedule, setting the stage for a lightning-quick campaign that is likely to win him re-election.

For nearly four years, Netanyahu has presided over a conservative coalition that has proved stable in a country in which governments rarely survive a full term.

Re-election could grant him a fresh mandate to continue his tough stance toward Iran's suspect nuclear program, put the already deadlocked peace process with the Palestinians further into deep freeze and complicate relations with the United States if President Barack Obama is re-elected.

In a nationally televised address, Netanyahu said he was forced to call an early election after his coalition could not agree on a budget.

"I have decided that it is in Israel's better interest to go to elections now and as quickly as possible," he said. "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."

With no viable alternative on the horizon, Netanyahu is expected to be re-elected easily. He and his Likud Party are riding a wave of popularity and the opposition is fragmented and leaderless.

The next vote had been scheduled for a full year from now, but speculation had been growing for weeks about an early vote.

Although he cited the coalition's inability to pass a 2013 budget by a Dec. 31 deadline, Netanyahu has long been rumored to be leaning toward elections soon.