“We will try to topple him,” Arieh Eldad, head of the National Union party, a coalition member, told The Sunday Telegraph. “We will work to recruit all those who are loyal to the Land of Israel. He cannot lie to his voters.”

Against the backdrop of intense US pressure on Israel to make bold moves for peace, Dr Eldad’s comments underscore the opposing pressures on Mr Netanyahu…

There are already indications that Washington is dissatisfied with what Mr Netanyahu plans to say. An Obama administration official said the message of the planned speech, the outlines of which they were informed of by US envoy George Mitchell, was”not adequate”.

Meanwhile in Israel there have been reports of secret outreach efforts with potential rebels from the opposition Kadima party, many of whom are former members of Mr Netanyahu’s own ruling Likud party but support Palestinian statehood, in the hopes they might break ranks and join his government.