Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz
Transportation Minister Yisrael KatzFlash 90

Sources in Likud say that there is a there a good chance that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could fire Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, in light of recent tensions surrounding work on Israel Railways on Shabbat.

"The chance that he could be fired is not a small one," the sources said.

On Friday afternoon, a source said that it was "unclear how the crisis [between Netanyahu and Katz] would end up. All options are on the table - including firing Katz."

The assessments came after Netanyahu on Friday ordered the cancellation of all the infrastructure work that had been scheduled to take place on the Israel Railways over Shabbat, and ordered the parties involved to reach a solution on the matter within 72 hours.

In an unusually harsh statement, the Prime Minister’s Office accused Katz of trying to cause a coalition crisis with the haredi parties by ordering that the work be carried out on Shabbat.

“Only a month ago, Katz met with the leaders of the haredi parties and promised them that there will not be any work on Shabbat. Shortly thereafter, after Katz failed in his attempt to take over the Likud institutions, the Transportation Minister stunned the heads of the haredi parties when he gave instructions to carry out dozens of projects on Shabbat,” said the statement from Netanyahu.