JERUSALEM — An official with Israel’s governing Likud Party says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will announce Sunday that national elections will be moved up.

The official said Thursday that Sept. 4 was shaping up as the likely date, speaking on condition of anonymity pending an official announcement.

The vote was originally scheduled for October 2013. But Netanyahu signaled in December that he might move them up when he called a snap Likud leadership race that he handily won.

Early elections talk heated up over the past week over budget and draft issues, but an announcement has been postponed as Netanyahu mourns the death of his father early this week.

Polls show Likud running far ahead of all other parties and Netanyahu to be the public’s top choice for prime minister.