The complicated dance to unseat Binyamin Netanyahu

THE BLUE and white balloons that had been prepared for Likud’s victory celebrations remained in the netting on the ceiling. Israel’s ruling party had emerged from the parliamentary election on March 23rd still the largest party in the 120-member Knesset (Israel’s parliament), but its leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, has only a slim chance of controlling a majority within it. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister promised to try to form “a strong and stable coalition”, but his voice lacked its usual confident tone.No fewer than 13 parties won seats in the new Knesset, up from eight in an election just a year ago. There are at least as many permutations for concocting a new government. Under a system of proportional representation that sets a threshold of 3.25% of the total vote for inclusion in the Knesset, no party has ever won an absolute majority. So governments are always formed by several. This was the fourth stalemated election in two years.