In fact, that has been the haredi position for years – scale-tippers, the ones who decide, who must be courted and offered inducements to provide the majority needed to form a coalition. In the April 2019 election, that all changed. The haredim either grew up or have too much to lose – or both.

This crisis changed haredi politics. They went from extortionists to the extorted. Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, with his five seats, managed to put up an ultimatum, extort the haredim to the fullest extent possible, and drag the country into a new election, as well. Just like Lieberman with his mere five seats was demanding the defense portfolio and to keep the haredi draft bill as-is, the haredim – who won 16 seats – claimed that they could have announced that they were opposed to the Defense Ministry's bill and warned that if they were not presented with a new version, would prevent the formation of a government. But that isn't what happened. They did everything, absolutely everything, to reach a deal.

On Sunday, the Hassidic Council of Torah Sages was forced to head into a meeting that Lieberman forced them into, and accept the draft bill as-is – with its target numbers and its punishments for draft-dodgers. They left themselves an inch of ground to stand on by asking for an amendment. But they accepted the bill for the most part.

All in all, over the course of the negotiations the haredim weren't asking for the moon. Public sentiment, as usual, put them in the position of those extorted, but the reality was different.

They were portrayed as wanting all men to wear tzitzit (ritual fringes) and all married women to cover their hair, but that was never the case. They weren't asking for more money, merely an adjustment to their current budget. They also weren't after anything new when it came to laws about businesses operating on Shabbat – just that the status quo be upheld. They even went quite far on the draft bill.

If the haredim had done what Lieberman did, people would be rioting in the streets.

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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."

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