As of this writing some 15 hours after the polls closed, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have won Israel’s Nov. 1 elections and is set to make a dramatic comeback as prime minister, just 18 months after being ousted by the previous balloting.

With a majority of votes counted, the one remaining uncertainty is the survival of the leftist Meretz party, which is teetering on the electoral threshold. If the final tally gets Meretz into the Knesset, Netanyahu’s solid majority will drop from the currently projected 65 seats in the 120-member chamber to 62 or 61, the minimal majority he needs to form a government.

Such a slim majority would make running the affairs of state a nightmare even for such an accomplished politician as Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving premier. It would hold him hostage to the extremists who secured his return to power, namely Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich, chair of the Religious Zionism party, and Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir, chair of the Jewish Power party, as well as every Knesset back-bencher. The Netanyahu of old would never have formed such a government. In his current reincarnation, he appears to have little choice.

This article will explore the right-wing government Netanyahu has pledged to establish, one he shares with the most conservative and reactionary forces ever to govern Israel. What does this mean for Israel’s recently inked historic gas extraction deal with Lebanon that Netanyahu has pledged to nullify? What policies will Netanyahu adopt on Iran, the Palestinians and Israel’s 21% Arab minority? How will he spin this turn of events to the international community, including the White House and the European Union, which have made their disdain for Netanyahu clear?