Netanyahu tries his best to avoid early election

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would make a lastditch effort yesterday to avoid the collapse of a coalition government weakened by his defence minister’s resignation.

With pundits predicting an early election in March, Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, was to meet with his finance minister, who is leading a charge within the coalition towards a snap poll. The minister, Moshe Kahlon of the centre-right Kulanu party, will urge Netanyahu to set an election date promptly.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation, over what he described as the regime’s lenient policy towards Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip, left the regime with a majority of only one seat in parliament.

That put the fate of Netanyahu’s coalition at the mercy of any of its partners. Netanyahu described his planned meeting with Kahlon as “a last attempt to prevent the collapse of the government.”