Despite the political mergers already finalized and those that might yet be made before the Aug. 1 deadline to submit candidate lists for the next Knesset, the center-right and the center-left blocs still appear to be gridlocked far from taking 60 of the parliament's 120 seats. While Benjamin Netanyahu takes pride in being Israel's longest-serving prime minister, the death knell for his political career could well be the decision by Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman not to join a coalition headed by him, unless part of a national unity government.

Netanyahu’s experience gives him a certain advantage over all the other candidates. He meddles in the affairs of the right-wing parties, encouraging this merger and discouraging that one. In some cases, his considerations are entirely mathematical, such as who won't pass the four-seat electoral threshold and thereby hamper the right’s chances of forming a new government. Other considerations involve whether his wife and son love or hate prospective candidates. That said, all Netanyahu's calculations really do is bring him back to square one: If Liberman continues to hold his current line, it will be impossible to form a right-wing government.

Since the founding of Blue and White ahead of the election held in April for the 21st Knesset, the most practical option would appear to be the formation of a unity government, but this means that Netanyahu would have to agree to the Likud recommending a candidate other than himself to form the next government, unless Blue and White wins more seats than the right, in which case President Reuven Rivlin would assign the task to Blue and White Chair Benny Gantz. Another round of elections is out of the question. The September election was the last trick in the magician’s hat, and it will be impossible to get a parliamentary majority to perform another suicide.

When examining the state of the Knesset, however, it turns out that there is a small window of hope for Netanyahu. It can be found across the aisle, among the 35 Blue and White Knesset members. When Blue and White submitted its list for the 21st Knesset, one of its leaders, Yair Lapid, was asked why there were no woman among the party’s leadership. In a moment of candor, Lapid confessed that decision-making about who would appear on the list had been a rushed affair. Three generals — Gantz, Moshe Ya’alon and Gabi Ashkenazi — sat with him for hours to discuss a long list of issues. It was only at the very last minute, just before the press conference at which they revealed their list, that they actually discussed Knesset candidates.