New Delhi, July 17 -- JERUSALEM - The Knesset voted itself out of existence Friday, formally ending the term of a parliament whose defining act was overseeing Israel's military campaign in Gaza. The dissolution triggers October 27 elections - the first since a full parliamentary term has been completed in Israel since 1988 - and opens a formal campaign in which voters will render a verdict on Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct of the longest and most devastating military operation in the state's history.

Netanyahu enters the campaign behind. Channel 12 polling gives his Likud party 22 projected seats, placing him second to former military chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot, whose Yashar party projects 23. The anti-Netanyahu bloc as a whole projects ...