The Labor and Meretz factions have proposed a motion for dissolving the Knesset and holding elections. The motion will be brought to a plenum vote but is unlikely to pass, as long as the coalition factions vote against it.

“Every additional day of the government takes Israel several steps back,” Labor Chairman MK Yitzhak Herzog explained.

Labor and Meretz hope that Yesh Atid and Hatnua, the left wing camp in the present coalition, will vote in favor of the proposal. This will necessarily mean that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will dismiss the two parties from his coalition, leaving him without a majority in the Knesset.

Meanwhile, Nir Hefetz, an advisor to Netanyahu, said Monday that the point of the meeting later in the day between Netanyahu and Yesh Atid party chairman and Finance Minister Yair Lapid is not a “reconciliation” between the two men.

In an interview with IDF Radio, Hefetz said that Netanyahu intends to demand answers from Lapid about the way he plans to behave as a member of the coalition, from now on. “Netanyahu is not holding this meeting for reconciliation; we are running a state here. Netanyahu is not holding on desperately to his chair.”

“What he will find out in the meeting today is whether one can govern in the government of Israel, and whether the government can be led in the directions he believes in, in the face of the challenges Israel faces,” Hefetz explained. “Netanyahu will find out in the coming days if he can govern in the present government. If he reaches the conclusion that this is possible, he will continue. If not, he will give the mandate back to the voter.”