Israel is experiencing one dramatic day after another. Yesterday, April 5, President Reuven Rivlin consulted with representatives of the different parties over the best candidate to form a majority government. On the morning of April 6, Rivlin announced he had made up his mind, offering Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a first go at the task. 

While still short of a Capitol-style storming of the Supreme Court or Knesset ramparts, the fast-moving developments April 5, one of Israel's most dramatic days ever, appeared to set the stage for a similar event to the Jan. 6 assault on Congress. For Netanyahu, April 5 was one of the most challenging, exhausting days in his 12 consecutive years as prime minister.

At 9 a.m., Netanyahu presented himself at the District Court building in East Jerusalem for the opening of the evidentiary stage of his trial on corruption charges. At the same time, representatives of the parties elected on March 23 to the Knesset were lining up across town at the presidential residence in West Jerusalem to recommend to Rivlin whom he should task with forming Israel’s next government.

Outside the courthouse, Netanyahu opponents and supporters faced off. The opponents have been demonstrating against him week in, week out for almost a year. The fans, led by newly elected Likud Knesset member Galit Distel Etebaryan, were breathing fire and brimstone at the state’s legal institutions, accusing them of attempting to subvert the democratic process.