The White House still has not released a long-awaited peace plan,and Monday's announcement could further delay its release.

But critics say these gains have come at a deep price to Israel's democratic ideals. Netanyahu's hard-line government has promoted a series of laws that critics say are aimed at muzzling liberal critics and sidelining the minority Arab population. They point to wide gaps between rich and poor and high cost of living,and say that by neglecting the Palestinian issue and continuing to build settlements in the West Bank,the country is on the path to becoming an apartheid-like binational state.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak called the election"the most fateful"since the assassination of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

"If we all act properly,on April 10 we will part with Netanyahu,"he said on Hahadashot TV."The state of Israel will get on a different path instead of this nationalist,racist,dark vision."

Barak called for the country's dovish and centrist parties to band together in a unified"bloc"in a bid to topple Likud.

Yair Lapid,leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party,said the election was a battle for the"soul of the country."

We will ask the voters for a clear mandate to continue leading the state of Israel our way.

Benjamin Netanyahu to his party

For now,there does not appear to be anyone with the popularity or gravitas to topple Netanyahu.

One wild card is Benny Gantz,a popular former military chief who is flirting with the idea of entering politics. Opposition parties have been aggressively courting Gantz. But for now,he has not committed to joining any party.

Instead,the biggest threat appears to be posed by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit,who must soon decide on whether to indict the prime minister.

Earlier this month,police recommended that Netanyahu be charged with bribery for promoting regulatory changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the country's main telecom company Bezeq. In exchange,they believe Netanyahu used his connections with Bezeq's controlling shareholder to receive positive press coverage on the company's popular news site.

Police have also recommended indicting Netanyahu on corruption charges in two other cases. One involves accepting gifts from billionaire friends,and the second revolves around alleged offers of advantageous legislation for a major newspaper in return for favourable press coverage.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and said he is the victim of a media-fuelled witch hunt. At Monday's Likud meeting,Netanyahu brushed off a reporter's question and said he expected the investigations to lead nowhere.

Mandelblit has not said when he expects to make a decision. The Justice Ministry announced Monday that deliberations were continuing and were"not dependent on political events."

Israeli law is unclear about whether a sitting prime minister must resign if charged with a crime,and Netanyahu has hinted that he will remain in office to fight any indictment.

But criminal charges,and the distraction of a protracted legal battle,could fuel calls for him to step aside.

A new bill extending conscription to Jewish ultra-Orthodox men appeared to be the final trigger. This is taboo for ultra-Orthodox parties.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlan,a key ally,said Monday that a prime minister"cannot serve"if he is indicted following a required hearing.

Reuven Hazan,a political scientist at Israel's Hebrew University,said the campaign would be dominated by"a discussion of whether Netanyahu should stay after,if he is prosecuted."

He said Netanyahu had settled on the April election,roughly seven months ahead of schedule,in part to"pre-empt"an indictment. The thinking is that it would be politically difficult for Mandelblit to indict,and potentially topple,a popular,newly re-elected prime minister.

"He wants to turn around to the attorney-general and say,'Before you decide to prosecute me pay attention. The people of Israel have re-elected me for a fourth time,"'Hazan explained.

An electoral victory would send a message that"you cannot overturn the results of a democratic election,"he said.

Netanyahu's coalition has been roiled by internal divisions for months. Avigdor Lieberman,leader of a small,ultranationalist party,resigned as defense minister last month to protest what he perceived to be the government's weak response to rocket attacks from Hamas-ruled Gaza.

That left Netanyahu with a fragile majority of just 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament.

But a new bill extending the military draft to Jewish ultra-Orthodox men appeared to be the final trigger for the government's downfall.

Ultra-Orthodox parties consider conscription a taboo. As a deadline for the legislation loomed,his religious coalition partners were demanding the legislation be weakened.

Earlier Monday,Lapid,a harsh critic of the religious parties,said he was rescinding his support for the draft bill,saying the planned compromise essentially rewarded draft dodgers.

As a result,Netanyahu convened his fellow coalition faction leaders and the decision was made to dissolve parliament and go to elections.

AP