Elections have been penciled in for February 10, but could be moved to the 17th, a parliamentary spokeswoman said.
The move came after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was unable to put together a new ruling coalition. The next parliamentary election had been scheduled for 2010.
Livni, 50, headed Israel's ruling party, Kadima, after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced he would step down over allegations of corruption.
On Sunday, Livni announced the failure of coalition talks she had been holding for five weeks in an attempt to form a cabinet without early elections.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas party earlier announced that it would not join a Livni coalition, citing differences "over the future of Jerusalem in the political process, and its demand for increased welfare benefits."
Kadima's main rival at the forthcoming elections will be the right-wing party, Likud, headed by ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu. Unlike Kadima, which pledges to continue peaceful dialogue with Israel's Arab neighbors, Likud has a much more confrontational stance.
Until a new cabinet is sworn in, Olmert is expected to continue to act as premier.
