(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s coalition crisis, which could potentially trigger a fourth election in less than two years, may be defused after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed to back a bill that would defer an August deadline for passing the budget.

The bill, which is set to go to a preliminary vote on Wednesday, would give the government until mid-December to approve the spending plan. Under the current law, the government, led by Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White party, has until midnight Aug. 25 to approve a budget.

The main dispute that has hampered the approval of the spending plan is whether the budget should cover just 2020 or next year, too, as stated in the coalition agreement. While Netanyahu favors a one-year budget, Gantz insists on sticking to the accord.

A two-year plan would deny Netanyahu the ability to bring down the government over the budget next year before Gantz is to take over as premier in November 2021 under their rotation deal.

The compromise comes amid more bad news for Netanyahu and his nationalist-religious bloc. The Maariv newspaper published a poll showing the grouping winning 59 of parliament’s 120 seats, the first time in recent months that it has dipped below a 61-seat majority. Netanyahu’s Likud would take just 29 seats, down from 36 currently and a forecast 41 in mid-June when Israelis were pleased with the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, before a second wave hit.

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