In September 2016, the fourth Netanyahu government was facing its first coalition crisis, with the ultra-Orthodox fuming over railroad maintenance work conducted on the Sabbath. A series of polls released at the time caused grave concern to the Likud, and especially to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They showed that Netanyahu's orders to halt maintenance work on the Sabbath caused the Likud to lose precious seats, while Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid was soaring at their expense. If elections had been held then, Yesh Atid would have emerged as the country's largest party.

The maintenance work caused widespread train disruptions on Sunday mornings. Images of soldiers unable to get back from their furloughs flooded the media, causing considerable unrest among the Likud base. Realizing how damaging this could be to him, Netanyahu came up with a compromise, which placated the ultra-Orthodox parties, while allowing for work on the railroads to continue on the Sabbath.

No one knows the heart of the Likud base better than Netanyahu. He is certainly aware that most of his supporters are traditional in their religious observance, but they also despise religious coercion. Most of all, they make use of supermarkets and entertainment places on the Sabbath. These are people who recite the kiddush over wine to usher in the Sabbath and, unlike the orthodox Jews, then turn on the TV before going out for a Friday night on the town or drive to the beach on Sabbath morning. Even those who are religiously observant oppose religious coercion, especially by the ultra-Orthodox.

A poll conducted in November 2017 by the nonprofit Hiddush for Religious Freedom and Equality, following another railroad work coalition crisis, found that the absolute majority of Israelis supports maintenance work on the Sabbath. This majority included those who describe themselves as traditional. The poll also found that some 65% of Likud voters supported the continuation of this maintenance work on the Sabbath.