Shas

The Netanyahu-Barak Deal: Will Their Partners Let it Happen?

The Likud's Binyamin Netanyahu and Labor's Ehud Barak have made a coalition deal. That deal will be voted on this afternoon by 1,476 Labor Party members, who will decide whether Labor will join Netanyahu's government.

Ynet provides some of the Likud-Labor agreements:

Netanyahu's Catch-22

Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu may be discovering the meaning of "Catch-22."

Here it is. He cannot last as prime minister if he begins his tenure battling President Obama over negotiations with the Palestinians and settlement expansion. But, at least one of the parties he needs in his coalition to form a government opposes negotiations, favors settlement expansion, and will walk out of any government that plays ball with Obama.

Lieberman and Religious Parties: Love, Money, and Marriage?

One of the major sticking points in the current government formation is the issue of civil marriages: Jews and Non-Jews cannot marry in Israel, and all marriages have to be performed by a religious institution: synagogue, mosque, church.

Prime Minister-designate Benyamin Netanyahu is forming a coalition that will include both Avigdor Lieberman, who wants to greatly reduce religious regulations in Israel, and three religious-United Torah Judaism (UTJ), Shas, and Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home)-parties, who want to preserve Jewish religious authority.

Becoming Prime Minister Again: Benyamin Netanyahu's Blessing or Curse?

Nine days after the election, Israel finally seems to be nearing a decision on who their next prime minister will be. Expect Netanyahu to be chosen tomorrow, Rena Matzleach predicted on Israel's Channel 2 news. And added that, "Netanyahu has already announced that he will call on both Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak to join a wide coalition."