Time running out for Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Sunday’s crucial vote

Barring something spectacular happening before the vote, the curtain appears to be coming down on the Israeli leader’s premiership, reports Natalie Lisbona in Tel Aviv

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP)

As Benjamin Netanyahu’s political career hangs in the balance, those in his party have claimed they are doing all they can to prevent the coalition from forming a new government and bringing an end to his 12-year tenure as Israel’s prime minister.

Ahead of Sunday’s key vote of confidence at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in which 61 votes will be needed to usher in a new administration, the Likud Party lawmaker and close Mr Netanyahu ally Miki Zohar said: “We are going to do our best to prevent this coalition government from happening.”

“If we do end up in the opposition, we will soon see the difference between a right-wing government under Netanyahu and a left-wing one under Naftali Bennett as their prime minister,” he told The Independent.