On Feb. 17, the weekly meeting of the Likud-Beitenu Knesset faction was surprisingly canceled. The faction’s ministers and Knesset members were given no explanation. Ever since the recent elections, there is no internal activity within the Likud, and these weekly meetings — though lacking any real substance — have become the only opportunity for Likud Knesset members to meet with the prime minister and with each other.

That same morning, the District Court in Tel Aviv ruled in favor of a lawsuit by Deputy Minister of Defense (and Likud Knesset member) Danny Danon against the Likud Party and the prime minister. In doing so, the court overruled a decision by the Likud Party Court, which prevented the Party Committee from discussing diplomatic issues and the merger with the Yisrael Beitenu faction. From now on, Danon and his “clique,” who represent the settlers and the most extreme wing of the Likud, can put the brakes on the prime minister as much as they want in discussions and diplomatic decisions alike, in anticipation of the moments of truth at the negotiations with the Palestinians.

It not clear what role this lawsuit played in the sudden cancelation of the faction meeting. What is clear is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not sorry to miss this opportunity to see Danon celebrate his victory. The prime minister preferred to focus on his meeting with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala Tasso, who is visiting Israel, and engage him in a long discussion about the Iranian nuclear threat.

Netanyahu seemed bored at recent faction meetings, and sometimes even looked like he was suffering. These meetings always begin with a short statement by him to the media, and continues with the day's provocation by one of the party hawks on the backdrop of the diplomatic negotiations. It is usually Deputy Minister of Transportation Tzipi Hotovely, who fires off a barrage of questions with a thick binder in front of her. Netanyahu rolls his eyes and answers whatever he answers about his commitment to the settlements, with everything being leaked to the media almost in real time.