The next government will be very similar in its composition to the current one, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
Speaking at a meeting of the coalition faction heads, Netanyahu said he plans to "copy-paste this coalition for the next government."
Sources close to the prime minister said the statement all but debunked a recent assessment saying that Netanyahu's next government will exclude ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism in favor of Yesh Atid, or exclude Habayit Hayehudi, as party leader Naftali Bennett has hinted recently.
During the meeting, Netanyahu also asked for the support of coalition heads for a bid to lower the electoral threshold by half a percentage point to ensure that all the parties in the right-religious bloc pass it in the elections.
In 2015, the electoral threshold was set at 3.25%, revised from 2% in 2014.
Netanyahu's associates said that several coalition factions are in danger of not passing the threshold and being excluded from the next Knesset, and the prime minister wants to ensure that he can include them in his future coalition.
Recent polls predict that Likud is likely to win at least 30 Knesset seats in the next general election, due Nov. 5, 2019.
Last month, Netanyahu said Likud aims to win 40 Knesset mandates.
The polls project Yesh Atid would win 19 seats, followed by Zionist Union (15), the Joint Arab List (12), Habayit Hayehudi (8), Yisrael Beytenu, United Torah Judaism and Kulanu (7 seats each), and Meretz and Shas (5 seats each).
Speaking about the issue Sunday, Netanyahu acknowledged that lowering the electoral threshold could potentially prompt a split in Habayit Hayehudi or United Torah Judaism and that such splits would undermine a future coalition's stability.
Shas leader Aryeh Deri said Sunday that his party would oppose lowering the electoral threshold as it actually wants to see it rise.
Bennett and United Torah Judaism Chairman Yakov Litzman echoed Deri's sentiment.
A Kulanu official said the party, headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, would also oppose lowering the electoral threshold.
Kulanu "has no interest in backing such a move. We're nowhere near [failing to pass] the electoral threshold and we have no interest in propping up parties that are on the brink," the official said.
Speaking later at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu focused on the coming anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
"This week we will mark, in synagogues and cemeteries, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our people, and the day on which, 45 years ago, we absorbed a bloody attack that cost us thousands of victims.
"We must do everything to prevent war. Its victims destroy the lives of families and they are a gaping wound in the heart of the nation. However, if war is forced upon us, we must do everything to win with minimal losses," he said.
"Forty-five years ago, intelligence erred by holding to a mistaken assessment regarding the war intentions of Egypt and Syria. When these intentions became clear beyond all doubt, and when the danger was on our very doorstep, the political leadership made a grievous mistake by not allowing a pre-emptive strike. We will never repeat this mistake.
"At the same time, Israel is constantly working to prevent our enemies from arming themselves with advanced weaponry. Our red lines are as sharp as ever and our determination to enforce them is stronger than ever."
