Last week, it looked highly likely that a new government was about to take over in Israel. Then the security situation escalated, throwing more obstacles in the path of a new government headed by Yamina chair Naftali Bennett that would relegate current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the opposition benches.

Until around noon yesterday, the leaders of the change bloc seemed optimistic that a new government would be announced very soon. They had already allocated portfolios and were negotiating the guidelines for the new coalition. The participating party leaders all believed that by the end of the week, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid would inform President Reuven Rivlin that he had succeeded in forming a coalition.

Such a coalition is still possible, but it faces serious new obstacles. If such a government does finally come together, it will be a much younger one than the current cabinet. Many of its members would be first-time ministers. For its first two years, the new government would be led by Bennett, who is just 49. Lapid, 57, would take over for the final two years.

The two men formed a fresh new political alliance in the 2013 election, forcing Netanyahu to leave the ultra-Orthodox parties in the opposition. But Lapid and Bennett went in different directions over the next few years and their relationship became cordial but cool.