Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon faces a new challenge today when the Knesset (parliament) votes on the first no-confidence measure since his coalition collapsed last week.
Israeli parliamentarians are due to begin the debate on the motion brought by the left-wing opposition Meretz party this afternoon.
Mr Sharon is expected to survive the vote after securing the support of an ultra-nationalist opposition party to bolster his minority government's 55 seats in the 120-member assembly.
He is now courting the far-right National Union-Yisrael Beitenu faction to join his new government.
Mr Sharon's term, now in its 19th month, has been increasingly threatened by domestic political turmoil since the Labour Party resigned from government last week in a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements.
Yesterday, former prime minister and political rival Mr Benjamin Netanyahu demanded early elections as a condition for accepting Mr Sharon's offer of the post of foreign minister.
Any alliance between the two would likely be uneasy, as Mr Netanyahu still plans to challenge Mr Sharon for the Likud leadership in the next election Israel holds. Mr Netanyahu (53) served as Likud prime minister from 1996 to 1999.
"In my view, the Likud will double its power in these elections and will be able to build a government which can offer solutions to save the economy. . . . Why should we wait?" Mr Netanyahu said.
An early ballot would likely be held by May, and Mr Sharon had already been considering the move if he failed to forge a narrow right-wing government. By law, Mr Sharon must hold a national ballot no later than October 2003.
Opinion polls show the Likud growing to become the largest party in parliament by the next ballot, outstripping Labour.
Palestinian officials have expressed alarm that an Israeli government dominated by right-wingers and ultra-nationalists would take an even harder line against their two-year-old uprising for statehood.
Such a government could also disrupt US efforts to restore calm to the Middle East as it seeks support for possible war on Iraq.
PA