What appeared to be a simple and quick process of forming a new Israeli government is proving to be a bit more complicated.

After the election for the 21st Knesset on April 9, it looked like the formation of a government would be a non-issue and that the new government would constitute a continuation, in one form or another, of the outgoing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After all, every party that participated in the outgoing coalition recommended to President Reuven Rivlin that he charge Netanyahu with forming the next government, and none of the opposition parties expressed an interest in joining Netanyahu’s right-wing camp. The Likud didn’t even invite the latter for talks for the sake of appearance, as occurred many times in the past. It seemed that no one had the time; a new government had to be formed quickly and get to work. Despite Netanyahu’s suspicion that Rivlin would find a way to charge someone else in the Likud with forming the government, the president didn’t hesitate and gave the experienced prime minister the job for the fifth time.

Netanyahu exhausted the 28 days the law grants him for the task and is now in the midst of the two additional weeks he was granted. If at the end of the 42 days in total Netanyahu has not managed to form a governing coalition, he will be prevented by law from forming the government. Even if he finds a majority on the 43rd day, the president would have to give the task to someone else.

The current delay is not because of ideological divisions, although naturally there are various shades and certain differences between the potential partners. For example, Yisrael Beitenu is the most assertive about not enlisting the ultra-Orthodox into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and in demanding an iron fist toward Hamas in Gaza. The United Right wants to change the legal system more than the Likud does, and Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu is concerned about budgetary promiscuity. Yet, they are all right wing and prefer the diplomatic status quo to talks with the PLO on a peace deal. They all would also be glad to restrain the High Court with the populist view that Knesset members are elected by the people while the justices are appointed by a small committee, and thus in disputes between the branches of government, the last word should not be that of the legal branch.