Senior Likud party officials and others who have spoken recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu report that the Prime Minister is convinced that he will be able to pull off a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal with Hamas, even if members of his government oppose it, Yediot Aharonot reported.
According to the report, in an extreme situation, even if the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties leave the government, they will not cause it to break apart and trigger new elections.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir "has no political problem with moving to the opposition now, but he will not lead a process that dissolves the coalition, because he understands that if he does, he will be blamed for bringing down the right-wing government," a senior Likud official explained.
Currently, senior Likud officials estimate that the Knesset will dissolve during the winter session, which begins in late October. According to a political source in the Likud, in such a case, elections would be held in March or June 2025.
However, the Yediot Aharonot report also said that Netanyahu believes that he can manage to keep the coalition afloat during the Knesset's winter session, so that elections are held only in October-November 2025.