Israeli PM urges coalition partners not to bring down government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged his coalition partners on Sunday not to bring down the government, citing security challenges ahead and hinting at future Israeli military action against its enemies.

“I spoke with all the coalition heads. I told them this is the time to show responsibility - don’t bring down the government, especially not at this security-sensitive time,” he said in televised remarks.

Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, has been making last-ditch efforts to avoid the collapse of the government, weakened by the resignation of his defense minister.

Political pundits predict a snap vote could come as soon as March, instead of November as scheduled.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation, announced on Wednesday over what he described as the government’s lenient policy towards an upsurge of cross-border violence with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, left the government with a majority of only one seat in parliament.

That put the fate of Netanyahu’s coalition at the mercy of its partners, who have seen the four-term prime minister’s popularity take a rare hit in an opinion poll that showed Israelis were unhappy with him over Gaza.

Earlier Netanyahu met with his finance minister, Moshe Kahlon of the center-right Kulanu party, who has urged setting an early election date. Kahlon said on Saturday that governing with a one-seat majority was unsustainable.

Hitting back at criticism of his decision to accept a ceasefire with Gaza’s rulers Hamas, Netanyahu dropped heavy hints about a future Israeli military offensive.

“We have an entire year until the election. We are in the midst of a campaign and you don’t pull out in the middle of a campaign or play politics. State security is beyond politics,” he said. “I will not say this evening when we will act and how. I have a clear plan. I know what to do and when to do it. And we will do it.”

His call was echoed by members of the nationalist Jewish Home whose head, Naftali Bennett, asked to succeed Lieberman as defense chief but was turned down by Netanyahu who kept the job for himself.

An election would complicate promised moves by the United States towards reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts that collapsed in 2014. The Trump administration has said it would unveil a peace plan soon.