JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and right-wing Likud Central Committee chief Haim Katz have agreed to hold primary elections within six weeks, amid mounting pressure on the prime minister to step down after being accused of corruption.
However, Bloomberg News said it was not known whether the primary would be held before or after the Knesset was dissolved on December 11, when the Knesset's mandate to form a government expires.
The party's deputy, Gideon Sa'ar, had earlier applied for the presidency of the party to hold primary elections by December 11, in the hope of overthrowing Netanyahu.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted Sa'ar as saying that his proposal would lead to "the formation of a government within the current Knesset and end the political crisis that has been going on for almost a year, and prevent the dragging into elections we need."
It was the first official attempt within the center-right party to topple its leader since Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced last week that the prime minister had been charged with corruption.
A deadline set by President Reuven Rivlin for Knesset members to form a government expires on November 11, or it will have to go to the third parliamentary elections in Israel in a year.
Netanyahu had told those close to him that he would not repeat the mistake of his predecessor Ehud Olmert and resign after being formally charged in corruption cases, nor would he allow early primaries in his Likud party to choose a successor.
Netanyahu faces two fateful dilemmas, the first being at the head of the Likud party, with rivals calling for internal primaries to choose a new leadership, and the possibility of resigning him as prime minister over the indictment.