Israel's hardline opposition parties yesterday hailed "the beginning of the end" of the Barak government after winning a majority for the preliminary reading of a Bill to hold early elections.
But the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, in feisty mood in TV interviews last night, insisted that talk of elections was absurd. He indicated that he envisaged no great problem in reconstituting a workable coalition "within days".
Passage of the Bill came, ironically, as the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, was shuttling around the Middle East, attempting to accelerate progress toward peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and Syria. But although his Knesset defeat constitutes a major embarrassment for Mr Barak - who paid the price for not swiftly resolving relatively marginal coalition disputes - it need not necessarily represent a grievous blow to peace hopes.
The Bill to dissolve parliament, approved by 61 votes to 48 in yesterday's preliminary reading, requires three more stages of Knesset approval to become law, and that leaves Mr Barak with plenty of time to manoeuvre.
Three of the parties in his coalition voted with the opposition yesterday. Mr Barak could, if he so wishes, simply placate these parties by meeting some of their funding demands, thereby ensuring that the early elections Bill is defeated on its next reading. Such a course of action, though, might be seen as capitulation, and would further undermine his dented personal prestige.
In his interviews last night, however, Mr Barak seemed to be tending towards this placatory option. He noted that although the ministers of the coalition parties that had voted against him - the ultra-orthodox Shas, the National Religious Party and the Yisrael Ba'Aliya immigrant party - had effectively resigned yesterday, he might yet rebuild a "similar" coalition.
The alternative for Mr Barak would be to remove the offending parties and cobble together a new network of coalition alliances without them. Although the political arithmetic suggests he could muster a narrow majority in this way, it would depend on the support of 10 Arab members of the Knesset. Such an arrangement would leave Mr Barak vulnerable to the same charges that were made by the Israeli right against the late prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who was accused of giving "Jewish land" to the Palestinians without the support of a "Jewish majority".
Finally, Mr Barak could himself endorse the early election legislation, calling for a new poll in as little as three months. In the interim, he could try to achieve dramatic progress with the Syrians and the Palestinians, to add to the popularity he has engendered in recent weeks by bringing the Israeli army out of Lebanon.
Were he to build up enough momentum, he might be able to face the electorate with confidence, especially as the Likud party is currently led by the ageing and controversial former defence minister, Mr Ariel Sharon. Likud would like more time to elect a new leader, conceivably even welcoming back its former chief, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu.