Ken Clarke, the minister without portfolio and one of the most pro-European members of the government, accused Mr Miliband of acting "opportunistically", by voting with "extreme Eurosceptics" over the EU budget.

BBC: Ed Miliband: Britain 'sleepwalking' into EU exit

Two especially sensitive components in Mr Netanyahu's political calculations are Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister and leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, and Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio.

ECONOMIST: A few glimmers of hope amid the bickering and point-scoring

This was the argument made recently, to mixed reactions, by Haim Ramon, the minister without portfolio and a close ally of Mr Barak's, at an acerbic session with liberal Jewish leaders in New York.

ECONOMIST: Israel��s great divide