TEL AVIV, May 21: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was facing a meltdown of his ponderous coalition on Tuesday after a revolt by ultra-religious ministers triggered a political showdown over planned budget cuts.

Sharon fired four ministers of the powerful religious party Shas on Monday after they voted against austerity measures the government wanted to push through to tackle the economic crisis caused by the conflict with the Palestinians.

The sackings, along with the resignation of a fifth Shas minister in solidarity, left Sharon with just 60 seats in the 120-deputy assembly and facing the possibility of early elections as he struggles to plot a course through the bloody, 20-month Palestinian uprising.

Israeli television said Sharon had given orders that no talks were to be opened with Shas or other parties that could step in to shore up his majority, ordering a showdown with his critics in a new vote scheduled for Wednesday night, when his sackings come into force.

But Israeli army radio said Sharon had been in indirect contact with Shas’ spiritual leader in a bid to resolve the coalition crisis.

Contact between the Sharon and Ovadia Yossef was made through a businessman close to both of them, who took a message from Sharon saying he would be willing to withdraw his dismissal of four Shas ministers if the party agreed to vote through the budget on Wednesday.

Sources at Shas, quoted by the radio, said they believed Sharon was conducting secret negotations with the party leadership, but indicated that Shas was unlikely to change its stance on the issue.

“There is no reason to be tight-fisted,” Shas parliamentary leader Yair Peretz told army radio.

“If they don’t make changes to the (budget) we will vote against (Finance Minister) Sylvan Shalom’s plan,” he threatened.

Shas’ political leader, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, said earlier on public radio he would continue talks to find a way out of the impasse but held out little hope.

“We have another few hours of talks to see what will happen. There is no doubt in my mind that the (sacking) decision was a wrong one unless the prime minister wants to go to elections,” he said.

Commentators noted that Sharon still enjoys a good public rating opinion and going to the polls early would pull the rug from under his Likud party rival for power, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli shekel was down against the dollar early Tuesday after the dramatic failure of the austerity package, trading at 4.875 to the dollar, but the anticipated shockwave on the stock market failed to materialise.—AFP