The deadline to pass the state budget or dissolve the Knesset and hold new elections is only hours away as the Knesset begins its debate on a law which would push the deadline back by 120 days.
Despite declarations by the Likud and Blue and White parties last night that they would accept the compromise of Derech Eretz MK Zvi Hauser, no final agreement has yet been reached and both sides believe that the possibility of dissolving the Knesset remains.
If the law is not passed in the next few hours, Israel will hold its fourth election in under two years.
At the center of the controversy is the wording of the government decision that is being debated today, and the question of whether the agreement will include the freezing the appointments of senior officials in the public service.
Earlier, a senior Likud official said following the difficulties in the negotiations between the parties, "Blue and White are fleeing from the Hauser compromise they themselves agreed to and are dragging the country to the polls with false claims and last-minute difficulties."
He said: "Although Prime Minister Netanyahu has already announced that he will not interfere in the appointment of senior members of the judiciary, Blue and White refuses to establish a parity committee for the appointment of senior officials as stipulated in the Hauser compromise and as agreed in the coalition agreement."
"Blue and White are also trying to define the budget as biennial, although in the Hauser compromise the budget is not defined as such. Blue and White requires that they have approval of government regulations - which also does not appear in the agreed Hauser compromise. While Ganz's Blue and White agreed to a compromise, Gabi Ashkenazi's Blue and White is dragging the country to elections," he added.
In Blue and White, on the other hand, they claimed that the Likud was trying to freeze the senior appointments in the government from this morning in a last-minute demand. According to the sources, no negotiations are taking place on any other issue other than the Likud's new demand.
Last night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened a press conference in which he announced:
“I have decided this evening to accept the compromise deal proposed by MK Hauser. This proposal would enable funds to be sent immediately to citizens and the Israeli economy. It will prevent the need for new elections. This is the time for unity, not elections.”