Being near the constitutional maximum of five years between general elections, PM BenLevi (Pro) has asked Queen Rivkah to dissolve HaKnesset and hold elections. Having given her consent, HaKnesset is no longer in session, with the current government maintaining a caretaker position until elections are held and HaKnesset re-forms.
There are eight parties in the national election this year, and are listed below according to size:
Progressive Party (Pro): Social Liberalism, Pro-Labor
For the past five years the Progressive have led the slimly held coalition government, and was forced to betray certain liberal ideals in order to hold the Social Democrats and Etz Chayim (Tree of Life) in coalition.
Conservative Party (Con): Conservatism, Social Conservatism, Laissez-Faire Economics
Conservatives have led the Honorable Opposition and Shadow Government during the past five years, fighting tooth and nail against the socialized services used by the Progressives to buy Social Democratic and Etz Chayim support.
Social Democratic Party (SDP): Social Democracy, Democratic Socialism
The Social Democrats have always been supporters of Progressive-led coalition governments in the past, though the weak showing of the Liberal Party allowed the Social Democrats and their religious allies Etz Chaim to extract large concessions from the Progressives, including an optional government run health insurance program.
Liberal Party (Lib): Classical Liberalism
Although the Liberal Party are traditionally strong allies of the Progressives, their comparatively weak showing in the last general election forced the Progressives to buy off the Social Democrats and Etz Chayim with a price that cost them the support of the Liberals, forcing them into the Opposition with the Conservatives.
Crown Loyalist Party (CrL): Royalism
Considered an anachronism by many outside of the Kingdom, the Crown Loyalists still have a strong following in Judea. Though often criticized for their knee-jerk reaction of support for the Crown, they are frequently counted upon by parties attempting to form a government. (Indeed, the last time the Loyalists were not part of a government coalition was when King Ya'akov "regretfully" requested the National Democrats form a government. It lasted two years before the coalition collapsed and the National Democrats lost most of their seats, dissolving entirely after the next election.)
Hebrew Unity Party (HUP): Hebrew Nationalism, Social Conservatism, Social Regressivism, Third Way Economics
One of the two major religious parties in Judea, the Hebrew Unity Party is notable for their simultaneous support of nigh egalitarian economic theory and extreme social conservatism bordering on the regressive. The party is typically favored by the Traditionalist and Fundamentalist sects of Herbraism (OTL Judaism). Due to these social policies, they almost always form coalitions with the Conservatives, though their economic policies keep the Conservatives from tearing down too much of what the Progressives and Social Democrats typically do.
Etz Chayim/Tree of Life Party (Etz): Hebrew Socialism, Green Politics
Though enjoying more support than Hebrew Unity, Etz Chayim almost always has less seats than the HUP by virtue of the fact that most of their supporters support the Social Democrats more. For the past five years they have been the smallest national party in the coalition, though because of the division of seats in HaKnesset they were able to gain control of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Judean National Socialist Workers Party (JNS): Judean Nationalism, Hebrew Nationalism, Judean Supremacism, Hebrew Supremacism, Third Way Economics, Fascism
Emerging a little under a year ago, the National Socialists have been slowly gaining support from certain fringe elements of society. The recent downturn in the economy (more due to the global economic climate than the policies of the current government) has allowed the National Socialists a period of even faster growth. Their racist ideology still offends most citizens of the Kingdom, but the National Socialists managed to create enough doubt over "amending the constitutional protections of free expression" that would be needed to ban them that such efforts over the past year have failed. Fear has grown that as the economy continues to suffer, more Judeans may begin to turn to the radical National Socialists. The National Socialists currently hold one seat in the Lords, and he has been denied entrance to the Opposition.