Despite the political mergers already finalized and those that might yet be made before the Aug. 1 deadline to submit candidate lists for the next Knesset, the center-right and the center-left blocs still appear to be gridlocked far from taking 60 of the parliament's 120 seats. While Benjamin Netanyahu takes pride in being Israel's longest-serving prime minister, the death knell for his political career could well be the decision by Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman not to join a coalition headed by him, unless part of a national unity government.
Netanyahu’s experience gives him a certain advantage over all the other candidates. He meddles in the affairs of the right-wing parties, encouraging this merger and discouraging that one. In some cases, his considerations are entirely mathematical, such as who won't pass the four-seat electoral threshold and thereby hamper the right’s chances of forming a new government. Other considerations involve whether his wife and son love or hate prospective candidates. That said, all Netanyahu's calculations really do is bring him back to square one: If Liberman continues to hold his current line, it will be impossible to form a right-wing government.
