Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cautioned against holding early elections, warning that a snap vote would be "irresponsible" given current security concerns. In a live broadcast on Sunday night, he insisted that "in the midst of a battle, you don't desert" and that "the security of the state is beyond politics."
The political turmoil erupted after Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned last week in protest at a ceasefire with Gaza militants. Mr Netanyahu has assumed the defence portfolio despite resistance within his coalition, which now holds a precarious one-seat majority in the Knesset.
Coalition partner Naftali Bennett has threatened to withdraw his party unless he is appointed defence minister, while Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has expressed doubt that the government can continue. Mr Netanyahu argued that toppling the government would echo past mistakes, referring to coalition collapses in 1992 and 1999 that he said led to the Oslo accords and the Second Intifada.
Despite the coalition crisis, recent polls suggest Mr Netanyahu remains the preferred candidate for prime minister, with his Likud party leading in support. If he remains in office beyond 31 May 2019, he will surpass David Ben-Gurion as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.
The recent escalation began when an undercover Israeli unit was intercepted in Gaza, triggering a firefight that killed seven Palestinian militants and one Israeli commando. Hamas responded with hundreds of rockets and mortars, while Israel carried out air strikes. The violence subsided after an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire, which Mr Lieberman and Mr Bennett opposed as a surrender.
