Netanyahu calls early Israeli election Benjamin Netanyahu called an early election on Sunday night, in an attempt to capitalise on his party's strong showing in recent polls and in the hope of winning a decisive popular mandate at a time of looming conflict with Iran . The prime minister told a convention of his Likud party, that the polls would be held in four months time. The vote is expected to take place September 4, cutting short a four-year term that would otherwise have lasted until next year. Mr Netanyahu's decision to call early elections has been widely linked to the forthcoming presidential elections in the US, which will be held only two months after the Israeli contest. Relations between the Israeli premier and Barack Obama, the US president, have been marked by tensions over issues such as Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Israel's policy towards Iran. Analysts say Mr Netanyahu is worried that a new Obama administration would steer a more confrontational course towards Israel: "I think he wants to have a new mandate before the US election," said Shlomo Avineri, a professor of political sciences at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The issue of peace with the Palestinians is dormant now, but it won't be after the US elections, especially if Obama is re-elected. For Netanyahu, it is therefore convenient to have a broad new mandate before [the US vote]," he added. Mr Netanyahu will also have been encouraged by recent polls predicting a resounding win for his rightwing Likud party. An election survey published in the Maariv newspaper on Friday suggested Likud would win 31 out of 120 seats in the Knesset, making it by far the biggest force in the Israeli parliament. Asked who they saw as the most appropriate leader for Israel, two out of three respondents named Mr Netanyahu in direct match-ups with other party leaders. The polls also suggest that Israel's prime minister will once again be able to assemble a governing coalition dominated by other right-of-centre parties. Unless Mr Netanyahu opts for a radically different coalition, the next Israeli government is therefore likely to continue the current cabinet's support for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and its cautious approach towards peace talks with the Palestinians. Analysts agree, however, that the forthcoming campaign will be dominated by issues that have little to do with Israel's long-running conflict with the Palestinians. Many view the vote as a referendum on Israel's approach towards Iran, amid mounting speculation over a possible Israeli air attack on sites connected to Iran's nuclear programme. Mr Netanyahu and his defence minister, Ehud Barak, are seen as leading proponents of an Israeli strike on Iran. But their hawkish stance has recently come under fire from members of the security and defence establishment, setting the stage for a sharp public debate in the months leading up to polling day. The looming conflict with Iran may also serve as a brake on the rising electoral fortunes of Israel's centre-left Labour party, led by Shelly Yachimovich, who is forecast to win 18 seats for her party. As a former journalist, Ms Yachimovich is hampered by her lack of experience in military and security affairs - a vital asset in any Israeli election, but in particular when the risk of war is seen as high. The Labour leader will instead hope to capitalise on rising economic discontent, which last year erupted into mass rallies and a social protest movement supported by swaths of the Israeli population. The protests are widely expected to resurface this summer. Speaking on Israeli television on Saturday, Ms Yachimovich said it was a "most serious mistake to turn the issue of defence against Iran into Israel's biggest problem." At the same time, she did not rule out joining a Netanyahu-led government. Her stance prompted Dan Margalit, an Israeli columnist, to write in the Israel Hayom daily newspaper on Sunday: "In most previous elections, the opposition has waged a battle for the premiership. However, this time around, it seems the opposition is reconciled with the fact that Netanyahu will form the next government. A third important theme of the election campaign is expected to revolve around Israel's fast-growing population of ultra-Orthodox Jews and military service. Only a fraction of the ultra-Orthodox community currently serves in the military - thanks to a series of draft exemptions that have long angered the country's secular and moderately religious mainstream. Yesh Atid, a new political party led by Yair Lapid, a prominent television journalist, has promised to make the ultra-Orthodox draft a central theme of its campaign. The party is forecast to win eleven seats in the Knesset.