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Facing a midnight deadline this evening to present a workable government to President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party is locked in talks with Jewish Home to forge a coalition agreement between the two parties.

Netanyahu has already secured deals with Kulanu and ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, which added to Likud’s 30 MKs, already gives the potential government 53 votes in the 120-member Knesset. Netanyahu had been expected to add both Jewish Home and Yisrael Beitenu to his coalition partners, but Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman surprisingly announced on Monday that his party would prefer to sit in opposition rather than join an “opportunistic” government. As a result, Netanyahu must secure the support of Jewish Home’s eight MKs to form a slim single-seat majority of 61 MKs. Should this fail to materialise before midnight, President Rivlin could ask opposition leader Isaac Herzog to form a government or call a fresh election.

Given such a prospect, Netanyahu and Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett are expected to sign a deal during the course of today. However, Bennett is reportedly using Netanyahu’s reliance on Jewish Home to significantly increase his party’s demands for joining a Likud-led coalition. Last week Bennett announced that he wished to become Education Minister. Widespread media reports this morning suggest that Bennett yesterday issued upgraded terms, requesting that he be appointed either Foreign or Defence Minister with his number two Ayelet Shaked becoming Justice Minister.

Israel Radio quoted a Likud source saying that Netanyahu had made an “unprecedented” offer to Bennett, promising the education, sports, agriculture and diaspora affairs ministries, plus chairmanship of an influential Knesset committee.  A Likud statement warned that “if Jewish Home rejects this offer, there’s only one alternative to a national Likud government: A left-wing government headed by Herzog, in which there will be no representation for the religious-Zionists,” which form the base of Jewish Home’s support.