Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows full well that his headache won't end on Jan. 22 at 10 p.m. That's when the real headache will actually start.

In his thoughts, Netanyahu could very well be going back four years, to the days when things were much simpler. Back in the day — in the post-2009 elections — he was able, brick by brick, to assemble his dream coalition: many natural partners and a small cadre of left-wing opportunists. The latter consisted of the incumbent Defense Minister Ehud Barak and a host of other "job seekers" who joined the government, thereby willingly providing to him the "diplomatic license" with which he was able to venture out to the world. 

However, a review of this past week's public statements by leaders of the center-left parties gives rise to conjecture that the era of the Fouads and Simhons — to wit, politicians like Binyamin Ben Eliezer, a.k.a. Fouad, and Shalom Simhon — who get elected by leftist voters and then serve in right-wing governments is over. Shelly Yachimovich, Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni have all climbed on very high horses in recent days, declaring their terms for joining a future government. It remains uncertain whether Netanyahu will be able to get them down. 

The most interesting question pertains to Lapid. Ostensibly, he is a natural for the part of the left wing's cleansing fig leaf. Lapid has fettered himself in many directions. It was only yesterday, Jan. 10 that he declared that he would not join a government that would avoid implementing equal sharing of the burden, thereby ruling out partnership with the ultra-Orthodox. A few days earlier, he updated his Facebook page, saying "There's no way I will join a right-wing and ultra-Orthodox government all on my own." Besides, it was already long ago that he announced that he would not serve in a government that would not change the electoral system and resume the diplomatic negotiations. On top of that, he will be making demands for housing and education reforms.