On Nov. 23, one day before the nuclear talks between Iran and the superpowers were scheduled to end, US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Vienna preparing for another marathon session of meetings to extricate the negotiations from a dead end. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was chairing the most volatile and turbulent Cabinet meeting since the current government was formed.
Netanyahu insisted on putting up for vote the potentially explosive nationality bill, born within the extreme right wing of his coalition. He insisted on that despite resentment on the part of his coalition partners, Ministers Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid, who voted against it. Throughout the Cabinet meeting there was a steady stream of reports that Netanyahu, Livni and Lapid were exchanging harsh words.