Netanyahu said to tell ministers he may not be able to hold coalition together

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly telling ministers in his coalition that he will not be able to appoint Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home party to the defense minister post because of opposition to the move from other coalition partners.

The reported comments suggest that Netanyahu will be unable to stabilize his narrow 61-seat coalition after the resignation of ex-defense minister Avigdor Liberman and withdrawal of his Yisrael Beytenu faction from the ruling coalition.

The report follows demands earlier this evening by the heads of Shas and Kulanu — Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, respectively — that Netanyahu call elections and not attempt to hold the coalition together.

The debate now, reports say, is over the date of the coming elections. Netanyahu prefers a later May date, while Kahlon and Deri prefer closer to March. According to Israel’s election law, once the Knesset votes on its own dissolution, a step that could take place within days, the country will begin a 90-day campaign to election day.