India, July 17 -- Israel's parliament dissolved in the early hours of Friday morning after a frantic, marathon session of last-minute legislating, formally closing the books on a four-year Knesset term and setting the country on a collision course toward an Oct. 27 election. The upcoming polls will test whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can survive nearly three years of war, upheaval and mounting political fatigue.

The dissolution, confirmed by the Knesset speaker in the pre-dawn hours, means lawmakers will not return to the chamber before voters go to the polls, closing out one of the most consequential and turbulent legislative sessions in the country's history.

A coalition racing the clock

In the days before the rece...