Tel Aviv (dpa) - With only hours to go until the final deadline to form a government in Israel runs out, the chances of an unprecedented third election within a year looked all but unavoidable on Wednesday.

The two largest parties in Israel's 120-seat parliament - caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White - have agreed on March 2 as the date for the third election if no last-minute agreement on a governing coalition is reached before the deadline at midnight (2200 GMT).

The parliament will pass legislation on the election date on Wednesday, Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein has said.

A third election within under a year is unprecedented in Israel and attests to the intensity of the political stalemate in the country.

While Netanyahu has failed twice to form a majority coalition in the wake of April 9 and September 17 elections, Gantz has failed once.

Netanyahu, Gantz and kingmaker Avigdor Liberman, of the far-right, secular Yisrael Beiteinu party, have pointed their fingers at each other for the failure.

Netanyahu has insisted on staying in office for at least another six months, while Gantz has declined to sit with the Likud so long as Netanyahu, who stands accused of corruption, remains prime minister.

Almost three years after the corruption allegations surfaced, Israel's attorney general announced last month that Netanyahu would be the country's first sitting prime minister to be indicted.

The 70-year-old faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust for allegedly offering political favours in return for more positive press coverage and helping out wealthy business contacts in return for expensive gifts.

He has until January 1 to ask lawmakers to vote for granting him immunity, as a Knesset member, against criminal charges.

On the eve of the Knesset deadline, Gantz said Netanyahu had not sworn off seeking immunity, precluding any chances at compromise.

"Netanyahu, just as you promised before the previous elections, do not hide behind parliamentary immunity. Defend your innocence in court," said Gantz. "You cannot turn the Knesset into a safe haven."

Netanyahu fired back that Gantz should stop spreading "spin."

Although Netanyahu is undeniably under pressure, there has been no open revolt against him in the Likud or the public. Only one leading Likud member, former education minister Gideon Saar, has announced that he will challenge the prime minister for the party leadership.

Judging by opinion polls, the indictment announcement has not dented support for "Bibi" among Likud members or voters, nor is there an immediate end in sight to the paralysing tie between the right-wing religious and centre-left blocs in the Knesset.

However, a poll commissioned by Channel Thirteen News showed that a Likud headed by Netanyahu would perform better in elections than one led by Saar, but would spell losses for the overall right-wing bloc.