After months of speculation and rumors, the official decision to disband the Israeli parliament and prepare for elections will be taken next week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with members of his Likud party and propose that elections be held in early September. The bill must then get passed in the Knesset parliament, which is expected to approve it since both the coalition government and opposition support it.

"Some political parties will push for the abolition of the Tal law in a bid to restore mandatory military recruitment of every Israeli citizen," Prof. David Nachmias, of Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, told Xinhua on Thursday when asked what the main issues of the elections would be.

The Tal law allows ultra-orthodox Jews to study in religious schools instead of serving in the military or doing national service. The exception, in addition to the low level of workforce participation of ultra-orthodox men, has become a major source of discontent among other groups in the Israeli society. They argue that too much is asked of them while not enough is asked of the ultra-orthodox.

Prof. Shmuel Sandler, of Bar-Ilan University, said that he too believes that the debates in the election campaign will focus on social and religious issues.

Foreign policy, such as Iran's continued progress in its nuclear program, will take a back seat according to Sandler.

"On the Iranian issue, in the political elite at least, there is a consensus and all of those who oppose are making a mistake by bringing it up as an issue," Sandler said.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Last summer was a summer of discontent in Israel. People boycotted dairy products due to the high prices, raising nationwide protests highlighting the increased costs of living and large-scale demonstrations calling for a more equal distribution of wealth.

However, Nachmias argued that at the moment, neither of the current two largest parties, Likud and Kadima, will prioritize social justice as one of their main issues in the elections. This could nevertheless change if there is a new outbreak of protests this summer, which would force them to deal with the issue or face the possibility of losing votes, he said.

"As prime minister, Netanyahu has no incentive to bring the social justice issues to the public agenda, because his government is in part to blame for that," Nachmias said.

Sandler said that Netanyahu would most likely defend his government's economic policies by pointing out that unemployment rate is low and that "while the West it going through an economic crisis we aren't."

While Netanyahu might disagree with the opposition parties on the economic policies, when it comes to the Tal Law, there is a shared view that the issue needs to be address.

Netanyahu recently said that the Tal Law will be replaced with one that is more equal and just.

In addition to Kadima, the Labor party and the newly formed Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party are all pushing for the law to be changed, as is the second largest party in the government Yisrael Beiteinu.

On the other hand, the ultra-orthodox Shas party, which is an important member of the coalition, is strongly against any change to the law.

Should there be little or no changes to makeup of the government, then most likely there will be few, if any, changes to either the government economic or social policies, according to Nachmias.

"The Likud is leading in the public opinion polls by 30 Knesset parliament members, so that is quite an advantage over other parties, the second largest party has only 15 members of Knesset," Nachmias said.

"And if this trend continues, the Likud are going to form a new coalition government not that different from the one that we have now," he added.

FOREIGN POLICY

Despite Netanyahu deems a nuclear armed Iran an existential threat to Israel and keeps a military action on the table, the prime minster will not use his policy on Iran as a way to gain votes, according to Sandler.

Also, He said none of the main political parties are going to push advancement of the peace process as a major issue in the elections.

"Most people in Israel accept it's not our fault, the fault is on the other side," Sandler said.

While attempts have been made to renew direct negotiations, the last effort was made in January by Jordan. However, since neither side is willing to give up on their preconditions for the talks to resume, the deadlock will go on.

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Israel end all settlement construction before he is willing to restart negations. Netanyahu has rejected the demand and wants Abbas to recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people before resuming the talks, which Abbas has refused to do.