Having spent the past few weeks talking up their chances of success, Israel's opposition parties yesterday signally failed in an effort to unseat Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.
So untroubled was the Prime Minister by the attempt in the Knesset to pass a no-confidence motion that would have brought about his political demise that he did not even bother to take his seat in the chamber for the vote.
Horrified by the collapse of peace efforts in the two years that Mr Netanyahu has held office, members of the moderate opposition parties have spent much of July in earnest negotiation with purported malcontents in the multi-party governing coalition, attempting to secure their support for the no-confidence motion.
At one point the main Labour opposition thought it had reached an arrangement with the most extreme right-wing party in the Knesset, Moledet, to help to bring down Mr Netanyahu. But when it came time to vote yesterday evening, the numbers fell far short of opposition expectations.
Forty-two of the 120 Knesset members voted no confidence in Mr Netanyahu, and only 20 cast votes supporting him. But since Knesset legislation requires an absolute majority for a no-confidence motion - 61 votes or more - the Prime Minister had no cause for alarm.
Mr Netanyahu is taking marginally more seriously a new attempt by the opposition, due tomorrow, to push through legislation approving the dissolution of the Knesset and new elections. Even if it passes a first reading, the bill would have to go to committee and then pass second and third readings, which could take months.
Nevertheless, passage of a first reading would be embarrassing to the Prime Minister, so he is himself now engaged in talks with his own coalition members, to ensure that they fall into line.
The political pushing and shoving has reached a peak this week because tomorrow marks the final Knesset session before a summer recess lasting into October. Labour had been determined to oust Mr Netanyahu before the break, concerned that he would stall for another few months on the next Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank.
AFP adds:
Israel's Internal Security Minister, Mr Avigdor Kahalani, was due to meet Mr Mahmud Abbas of the PLO last night.
The Israeli press earlier reported that the Defence Minister, Mr Yitzhak Mordechai, in a secret meeting in his home on Saturday with Mr Abbas, had agreed to concessions to the Palestinians.
The reports said Mr Mordechai had suggested that 3 per cent of the 13 per cent of the West Bank territory which Israel is to evacuate under a US proposal be considered "a nature reserve with a single tenant". The reserve, where the Palestinian Authority would be in charge of public order, would reportedly be in the southern desert of the West Bank, a region Israel considers sensitive on security grounds.