Barak battles for survival

Ehud Barak: Abandoned by political allies

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, is racing against time to rebuild his coalition government and achieve a breakthrough in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Barak's stepbacks

Three parties pulls out of government before Camp David summit

Barely survives a vote of no confidence by parliament - Knesset

Preferred candidate for presidency, Shimon Peres, not elected

Foreign minister, David Levy, resignes

Knesset tooks first step towards calling new elections

Mr Barak has suffered a succession of political setbacks and is likely to face an early general election unless he manages to turn things around during the 90-day parliamentary recess.

Israeli media reports say Mr Barak is trying to woo back the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, the third largest parliamentary faction with 17 members in the 120-strong Knesset.

Three parties including Shas pulled out of his governing coalition on the eve of his departure for the Camp David peace summit last month.

Analysts say Mr Barak is eager to reach an agreement with the Palestinians by 13 September, the date when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has vowed to declare an independent state, with or without a peace deal.

Barak's uphill struggle

A BBC correspondent in Jerusalem, Jeremy Cooke, says the best hope for Mr Barak now may be to bypass parliament by drafting a peace deal with the Palestinians and putting it directly to the people in a referendum.

Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: A force to be reckoned with

But he faces an uphill struggle, and few Israelis believe it can be achieved in the short time available.

An opinion poll published in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday showed 63% of 509 respondents viewing Mr Barak as a bad prime minister - his lowest rating since assuming office 13 months ago.

It contrasts starkly with the landslide victory Mr Barak won just last year on the promise of delivering peace with the Palestinians.

The opinion poll showed Mr Barak still ahead of Ariel Sharon, leader of the right-wing opposition Likud party, with 43% support against 39%.

But in a race against his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Barak would win only 42%, compared with 46% for Mr Netanyahu, according to the survey.

Mr Barak's woes were compounded by the resignation on Wednesday of Foreign Minister David Levy over the position he adopted at Camp David.

On Monday Mr Barak's favoured candidate for Israeli president, former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, suffered a shock defeat by a right-wing politician, Moshe Katsav.

Palestinian resolve

Meanwhile, the Palestinian leadership has reiterated its support for the declaration of an independent state next month.

Jewish settlements remain a major sticking point in the peace talks

Since the collapse of the Camp David talks, Mr Arafat, riding a wave of popularity among the Palestinians, has travelled to South Africa and Turkey to explain his stance.

The former Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ashrawi told the BBC that Mr Barak should not pin his hopes on achieving a peace deal with the Palestinians to save his political skin.

She ruled out concluding a "flawed or unjust peace agreement under pressure or coercion to save Barak's career".