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There are crises and there are crises. This is an annoyance and a monumental waste of money, but not a crisis in an existential sense.

In the election, the so-called right wing parties won a clear majority. Unfortunately, one of the right-wing parties, led by Naftali Bennett, fell 1,000 votes short of getting into the Knesset, which is the Israeli parliament. Had it received those votes it would have four seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

Because of this 1,000-vote shortfall, the party run by Avigdor Lieberman has become a kingmaker. Without Lieberman’s party joining the government Netanyahu will have 60 votes in his coalition, exactly 50%. Lieberman has demanded legislation that many of the other right-wing parties consider untenable and that is why the coalition has not been formed.

If Netanyahu is unable to form a government by tomorrow night, then either the President, Ruvi Rivlin, will ask the left-wing Blue White party to form a government, which nobody expects him to be able to do, or else the Knesset will dissolve and new elections will be set for September. While anything can happen in an election, nobody expects that a September election would give anyone other than Netanyahu’s Likud party the right to form the next government.

While anything can happen in an election, nobody expects that a September election would give anyone other than Netanyahu’s Likud party the right to form the next government.

Thanks for a comforting explanation of what's happening... feels better now.