The swearing-in of the 21st Knesset on Tuesday afternoon took place in an atmosphere of ongoing difficulties in assembling a governing coalition.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman was the first person to touch on the issue, saying at a meeting of his faction that "we are in favor of a Jewish state, but against a state of Jewish law. The haredi-national haredi camp got 22 seats. We have five, so it's obvious to me that we won't be able to get everything done in this Knesset that we wanted to. We'll demand that the status quo be upheld and this madness be prevented," Lieberman said.
Later, Shas leader Aryeh Deri responded to Lieberman and requested that he dial down the rhetoric: "The election campaign is over. The discussions and negotiations take place behind closed doors. There is no other way of putting a government together," Deri said.
"It's a shame to make threats and lay down red lies and then retreats. I read headlines about a state of Jewish law – that's not at all where we're headed," he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a calming message of partnership, saying, "Don't worry, in the end we'll have a government."
At a Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu said, "We are in the middle of assembling a coalition. That's difficult work with a lot of different aspects in terms of distributing positions and control of government budget and many other challenges, as well. I hope that this work will be complete before the final date, but I'm not sure it will, because usually, we come together around the deadline.
"We are starting the necessary processes in the Knesset. I intend to talk personally with each minister and MK and will try to do in in the next few days. We are working hard on the haredi conscription bill," Netanyahu said.
The Blue and White party also convened on Tuesday to toast the new Knesset. Party co-leader Benny Gantz said, "We will be a stronghold of rule of law and democracy. Every democracy needs checks and balances."
Yair Lapid said that "anyone who was elected based on incitement and splits should save us fake calls for unity."
