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Figures close to the Ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party (UTJ) revealed yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sounded them out about possibly joining the Government in place of Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party. Sources close to Netanyahu hinted that he planned to fire Lapid as Finance Minister and expel his party from the coalition.

However, later in the day UTJ head Yaakov Litzman said that they had also been approached by associates of Lapid and Israeli Labour Party leader Isaac Herzog to join a possible alternative centre-left coalition headed by the two men and unseating Mr Netanyahu as Prime Minister. Both UTJ and Shas, the other ultra-Orthodox party, claim to have rejected this offer. According to Haaretz, Shas leader Ariyeh Deri rejected both offers and called for new elections.

The immediate cause of the instability is Lapid’s budget, which Likud opposes and appears to be blocking.

Another point of conflict is the Nationality Bill, branded the ‘Jewish State’ Bill, which would legally define Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland of the Jewish People. The draft Bill was proposed by Likud’s Zeev Elkin and blocked by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who chairs the Legislation Committee. It will now instead be presented to the whole Cabinet before a Knesset vote. Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett slammed Livni for trying to block the bill, saying: “The nationality bill is part of the coalition agreement that was signed, and if it doesn’t pass we will not support any bill of Livni and Lapid’s.”

Livni responded by saying: “I won’t make concessions on democracy. I will continue to fight so that Israel will be both the Jewish nation-state and democratic. That is the basis of Zionism. That is what the Declaration of Independence stipulates and that is what will be.”

In Maariv, Ben Caspit makes the intriguing suggestion that Netanyahu and Bennett might run a joint list at the next election, much as Likud did last election with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu faction.