Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday downplayed media reports of an impending coalition crisis over a Jewish outpost in the West Bank, slated for evacuation in the coming days, which could threaten his Likud- led government.

"The coalition is stable at the moment and I'm not scared of elections," Netanyahu told the Army Radio in a special interview ahead of Israel's 64th Independence Day.

Senior cabinet ministers have clashed in recent days over a Supreme Court order to evict the residents of Ulpana Hill, a disputed 15-family outpost in the West Bank settlement of Beit El, by the end of the month, after ruling in January last year that it was illegally built on private Palestinian land.

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Saturday accused Defense Minister Ehud Barak who is in overall charge of West Bank settlement construction and approval, of promoting the evacuation for political gain.

"We said that we will not remove this neighborhood. If this happens, it could lead to the government's fall," Ya'alon warned.

"Evacuating (the outpost) is a complex and difficult legal issue and we're searching for a solution," Netanyahu told the Army Radio.

He confirmed reports that the government decided late Monday night to turn to the court and seek a postponement in the scheduled evacuation "to allow us to deal with it."

"We have (solutions) in mind, but it's not a simple thing. (The government) is working in accordance with the legal framework, but we also have national needs -- a deep connection to these areas and, at the same time, recognition of international considerations and a need to reach an agreement with our neighbors," Netanyahu said.

At the cabinet's weekly session on Sunday, Defense Minister Barak, Netanyahu's closest confidant, underscored the government's responsibility for maintaining law and order.

"If it will eventually become clear that these are private lands, there will be no choice but to either evict them or purchase it," Barak told reporters. He suggested using other empty areas within the settlement as an alternative housing site for the outpost after it is dismantled.

In parallel to the ongoing debate over the outpost in question, a ministerial committee that handles settlement issues in general on Monday moved to legalize three other West Bank outposts.

The committee granted Rehalim, Bruchin and Sansanan -- established in the 1980s and 90s -- formal recognition as settlements, which entitles them to receive a host of state- subsidized benefits.

Government officials said the decision to formalize the communities' status neither violates Israel's commitment not to construct new settlements or to expand existing ones, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

A Netanyahu spokesman noted that the government originally approved the creation of the three settlements, which until now had not been granted recognition for "technical reasons."