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At Last, the Israeli Coalition Deal Is Done

Reports say there will be a swearing-in tomorrow or next week

by
Adam Chandler
March 13, 2013
Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid.(Haaretz)
Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid.(Haaretz)

After nearly two months of negotiating and horse trading, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have finally put together his governing coalition just minutes ago.

The last obstacle was said to be centered around Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid’s demand to have his second-in-command, Rabbi Shai Piron, head the Education Ministry. In exchange for this, Lapid dropped some of his demands and the two sides finally agreed.

The other possible end results: less cabinet posts, a higher Knesset threshold of 4%, and the possible exclusion of Kadima, whose head Shaul Mofaz is not beloved by Netanyahu.

Earlier today, it was reported that Netanyahu was going to reopen negotiations with the ultra-Orthodox parties if Lapid didn’t agree to join the coalition today. I guess, for some, there’s a happy ending to be.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.