In the biggest threat yet to Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election hopes, his Minister of Defence, Mr Yitzhak Mordechai, one of the most popular members of the governing Likud, is poised to leave the party, resign from the cabinet and lead a new centrist party that is battling to defeat the Prime Minister.
Mr Mordechai failed to meet a deadline yesterday to register as a potential candidate for the Likud in May's general elections, cancelled a planned meeting with Mr Netanyahu and instead held talks with the nascent centrist party's leaders, Mr Amnon Lipkin Shahak and Mr Roni Milo.
They showed him the results of a survey they had conducted in recent days among Israeli voters, which indicates that both Mr Shahak and Mr Mordechai could convincingly beat Mr Netanyahu in the elections. And, although the survey indicated that Mr Mordechai was only very slightly more popular among voters than Mr Shahak, Mr Shahak apparently offered Mr Mordechai the party leadership.
The Defence Minister has been saying for weeks that he is contemplating leaving the Likud, and is said to have told friends in recent days that Mr Netanyahu simply cannot be trusted, echoing criticisms of the Prime Minister from across the political spectrum. As one of the most moderate members of cabinet, he has also made clear his disapproval of the freezing of peace moves with the Palestinians. But he kept silent yesterday.
Tomorrow he is set to visit Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, and his aides indicate that, after that visit, he will publicly announce his resignation and his move to the centre.
Mr Mordechai (54), another of the many Israeli former generals to have made the shift to politics, played a vital role in securing Mr Netanyahu's election in May 1996, by bolstering the inexperienced candidate's security credentials. Kurdistan-born, Mr Mordechai helped Mr Netanyahu win the votes of other Israelis of North African and Middle Eastern origin, the Sephardi community.
Although Mr Netanyahu's aides have been quick to claim that Mr Mordechai is no big vote-winner, and that Mr Netanyahu will prevail on May 17th without him, his departure would be a heavy blow and a tremendous boost to the centrists. Hitherto, Mr Shahak has been mired in a dispute with another would-be centrist leader, Mr Dan Meridor, as to who would hold the No 1 spot. Now Mr Meridor is also said to be endorsing Mr Mordechai as the party's prime ministerial candidate.