Less than a month before Israel's prime ministerial election the incumbent, Mr Ehud Barak, is being urged by members of his cabinet, his party and, reportedly, even members of his own family to drop out of the race.
Mr Barak is lagging behind the opposition challenger, hard line Likud leader Ariel Sharon, by up to 30 per cent in the opinion polls. The same surveys, however, show that were Mr Barak to step down in favour of another former prime minister from his moderate Labour Party, Mr Shimon Peres, the moderates would prevail.
This is largely because Israeli Arabs, who constitute about one in six voters, say they will not turn out to vote for Mr Barak, but would vote en masse for Mr Peres, aged 77, the Nobel Peace Laureate.
Mr Peres has said he will support Mr Barak's bid for re-election, and Mr Barak is insisting that he will not drop out of the race.
But two Labour Knesset members are now publicly pleading with him to do so, for the sake of the peace process with the Palestinians which, they fear, would be buried by a Sharon victory.
Cabinet ministers are privately telling Mr Barak much the same. His former chief of staff was meeting with him last night to pass on an identical message. And even his brother is said to be telling him to bow out.
Mr Sharon's candidacy is not plain sailing either. At 73 he is having to refute allegations that his health is failing, and the Supreme Court is hearing a petition that argues that it would be illegal for him to serve as prime minister.
The petitioner, a Labour Party activist, argues that since a commission of inquiry forced Mr Sharon to step down as defence minister during the Lebanon War 19 years ago, ascribing indirect responsibility to him for the massacre by Christian gunmen of Palestinians in two Beirut refugee camps, he should be barred as well from the prime ministership.
Mr Barak is still hoping to reignite his candidacy with some kind of peace breakthrough with the Palestinians. To that end, President Clinton's envoy, Mr Dennis Ross, arrives here today.
But it is unlikely that Mr Ross will be able to broker anything more than a non-binding "presidential statement", setting out a suggested framework for moving the peace process forward in the post-Clinton era.
Two more Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops yesterday.