The political agenda of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the days prior to the opening of the Knesset winter session, was supposed to focus on debates over the state budget before it is put before the Knesset for approval.

Prevailing political assessments from just before the current Jewish holiday season were that the coalition would get past the budget hurdle and the prime minister would benefit from at least a year of political tranquility, while the Zionist Camp would be left treading in place in the opposition. And so, with Netanyahu at a rather comfortable position, and while the opposition is losing its effectiveness, it seems that Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog is increasingly interested in joining the coalition. Indeed, this explains why, despite denials by Herzog, secret talks to form a unity government after the holidays have been underway. In such a scenario, Netanyahu would have to present a plan to relaunch negotiations with the Palestinians, and this could result in the right-wing HaBayit HaYehudi Party leaving the coalition. At this point, it is still unclear how much Netanyahu really plans on doing that, but the fact that top Likud ministers have been dwelling on this scenario proves that it really is under consideration.

But when it comes to politics, plans have nothing to do with circumstances. The wave of terrorism sweeping across Judea, Samaria and especially Jerusalem over the past few days poses a challenge to Netanyahu’s government. In fact, it looks like the current coalition is facing its first major crisis. In other words, the budget isn’t the first hurdle that Netanyahu has to get over. It is seething pressure from the coalition’s right flank, led by HaBayit HaYehudi’s ministers and by Likud supporters on the ground, and prodded by criticism from the opposition, led by the chairman of Yisrael Beitenu, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.

While in New York to deliver his speech before the UN General Assembly, and since Naama and Eitam Henkin were murdered on Oct. 1, Netanyahu has focused his efforts not only on containing the current wave of terrorism. He has also been contending with a political uprising on the right. He promised that the murders will not be ignored and placed the onus of responsibility on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, which he claims are involved in a campaign of incitement against Israel. But terrorism kept striking, and disturbing reports made their way to the United States one after the other. On Oct. 3, two more Israelis were killed by a Palestinian terrorist in the Old City of Jerusalem. A few hours later, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed.