Since the election results came in, Belaaz has learned that the Prime Minister, who came out of the election barely ahead with the outcome still very much in question, has been trying to get Shas chairman Aryeh Deri on the phone, without success. Shas is projected to have lost four seats and about 100,000 votes compared with the last election. No one currently holds a 61-seat majority, and new elections remain a real possibility.

The Prime Minister has been calling Deri’s cell phone since the morning hours. When those calls went unanswered, he tried reaching people in Deri’s circle and members of his family, but they have been unable to reach Deri as well. Belaaz has also learned that some of Deri’s close friends have tried to reach him, and he has ignored their calls a number of times.

Shas suffered a heavy blow in yesterday’s election. Deri also canceled the party’s election-night gathering and has not been seen in public since.

Separately, Israeli media reported Wednesday that Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman is not answering calls from opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot and Naftali Bennett, according to a Channel 12 report.