Netanyahu has been leading in polls for years, with no challenger significantly threatening him. Still, the ongoing corruption investigations are likely to make the upcoming election a real risk for the leader.

The snowball effect of early elections began in mid-November when then Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who accused Netanyahu of being weak in face of frequent attacks from the Gaza Strip, resigned from the government, in a sign of deep divisions within Netanyahu's ruling coalition.

However, the real driver of the decision to call early elections was perhaps the announcement by State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan last week that the police had completed investigations and his office would soon submit recommendations for the attorney general.

"A corruption indictment means the end of Netanyahu's political career ... He cannot afford to limply run in an election campaign," said Reuven Hazan, a professor at the political science department of Hebrew University.

But even if his indictment came ahead of the elections, the complex procedure entailed for charging a sitting prime minister will take so much time that Netanyahu may continue to serve for more time, Galon noted.

Notably, the opposition in Israel has yet to find a candidate with enough political clout to threaten Netanyahu.

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