Unless a compromise is reached between Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, Israel may face a constitutional crisis that could ultimately lead to a new election in September.
Here is a list of similar such crises.
The late-night Mofaz-Netanyahu deal of 2012
On May 7, 2012, the 18th Knesset passed the first reading of a bill to dissolve itself and call an early election because of disagreements over haredi conscription. Everything was ready for an election and Sept. 4 was marked as the date.
Yet in a dramatic turn of events, mere hours before the Knesset convened to pass the bill's second and third reading, Netanyahu announced that he had reached an agreement with Shaul Mofaz, whose Kadima Party agreed to join the coalition.
The moment this agreement was signed, any plans to disband the Knesset or prepare for an election were immediately halted. Mofaz was appointed deputy prime minister. In hindsight, this agreement was hidden from the public eye since it was negotiated during a time when Netanyahu was sitting shiva for his father.
Back then there was also total distrust between Mofaz and Netanyahu, not unlike the situation today between Netanyahu and Lieberman. Name-calling and arguments were part and parcel of their relationship, yet at the time an agreement was reached both leaders were able to put it all behind them.
The Dirty Trick that failed
In 1990 a national unity government collapsed and Likud Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir fired Labor leader Shimon Peres from the treasury. The reason for the firing: Peres was allegedly trying to hold secret peace talks. Labor then successfully assembled a majority and toppled the government in a no-confidence vote.
President Chaim Herzog then asked Shimon Peres to form a government, figuring he would have a majority to swear in a new government.
Peres indeed got a majority and was sure he could win a confidence vote in the Knesset, thereby allowing a swearing in. But during Passover of the same year, as the Knesset prepared to meet, it turned out that the 61-MK majority that Peres spoke of, did not exist. Two haredi Mks from a haredi party did not come to the Knesset, and Peres was forced to cancel the vote. As a result, he failed to win a confidence vote and Herzog appointed Shamir to form a new government, which he did successfully.
It's not over until it's over.
