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.
