In Israel, a vote on this year's state budget has been put off until 8am GMT on Sunday as the government struggles to stave off a threat by the Foreign Minister, David Levy, to resign. Mr Levy has said he will vote against the existing draft budget and would resign over a document he said would harm the poor. From Jerusalem, Lyse Doucet reports:

Mr Netanyahu's advisers are calling it a "white night" - a night they can't sleep - as they struggle to come up with enough concessions and funds to keep Mr Levy on board. A delay in the budget vote has bought Mr Netanyahu some time, but it's not clear whether his Foreign Minister will be satisfied with anything less than a total overhaul of a budget he said hurts the poor.

Mr Levy has a long history of brinkmanship with Mr Netanyahu but this time he doesn't seem to be bluffing. The Foreign Minister, a moderate in Mr Netanyahu's right-wing camp, also questioned the Prime Minister's commitment to the Middle East peace process.

He knows that if he resigns, other ministers in a shaky right-wing coalition could follow suit. Mr Netanyahu has already been forced to agree to millions of dollars in extra spending to buy the support of his other coalition partners.

Mr Levy's constituency includes many low-income families; he wants to emerge from this crisis as a champion of the poor. Mr Netanyahu wants to come out of it with his government and budget intact.