A leading Israeli TV commentator suggests Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be calling elections nearly a
full year ahead of schedule in order to open a window for a
military campaign against Iran’s
nuclear program in October, while President Obama is in the
heat of his re-election campaign.

The Times of Israel
reports:

In the weeks immediately after that vote, said
well-connected commentator Amnon Abramovich on the top-rated
Channel 2 news, Netanyahu will head a transition government at
home and have no need to worry about voter sentiment, and he knows
that President Barack Obama will be paralyzed by the US
presidential campaign…

After the September elections, which all polls show
Netanyahu winning easily, he will head a transition government for
several weeks while a new coalition is formed. During that period,
Netanyahu “will not be beholden to the voters,” and will be free to
take decisions on Iran that many Israelis might not support,
Abramovich said.

Netanyahu’s decision to
trigger early elections took many Israeli political observers
by surprise, but does come on the heels of increasing opposition to
war with Iran over its
nuclear program from the
public, from the
intelligence
community, as well as from former government and military

officials.

Netanyahu’s Likud Party is still expected by
most to win the re-election amid a fractured
and lackluster opposition. The Likud-led coalition also currently
includes the second-largest party in the Knesset, Kadima, headed by
Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Kadima was formed in 2005 by more
moderate members of Likud and more conservative members of the
Labor Party. Since then Kadima has largely eclipsed the Labor Party
in size.