Israel on the verge of snap election with hours left until deadline to form a coalition

Mr Rivlin said in a video statement on Wednesday afternoon that he will "do everything in my power" to prevent a second Israeli general election in 2019.

Mr Lieberman, whose party has five seats, is crucial to Mr Netanyahu’s plans for a Knesset majority. The Yisrael Beiteinu leader wants assurances that a law that he drafted last year, which regulates the enlistment of yeshiva students into the military, will be passed without amendment. 

But Shas and United Torah Judaism — the Strictly Orthodox parties in the chamber, which together have 16 seats — oppose the law’s quotas for drafting students and demand the right to alter them. 

British-Israeli businessman Samuel Hayek is among the figures attempting to mediate an agreement between the two leaders.

On Tuesday night Mr Lieberman again rejected calls to compromise, insisting the Strictly Orthodox parties should simply abstain on the yeshiva draft bill.  

Mr Netanyahu’s Likud responded by putting the party on an election footing and tabling a motion to dissolve the Knesset. The bill passed its first of three readings on Tuesday. 

If the remaining two stages are approved on Wednesday, it will mark the first time Israeli politicians have failed to form a government following an election.