Sri Lanka, Nov. 10 -- Last Saturday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he would ask the Yashar party chairman, Gadi Eisenkot, to explore the possibility of forming the post-election government. Sixty seven of the 120 Members of the Knesset (MKs) had recommended Eisenkot for the position of Prime Minister, and only 46 backed Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Seven had abstained.

But all is not well with the two coalitions. Parties are divided on many issues, but the ones which are difficult to solve are two: One, exempting the orthodox Jews (called Haredi or Haredim) from compulsory military service and secondly, striking an alliance with the Arab parties. Traditionally, alliance with any Arab party is considered politically suicid...