Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to be in a great mood, reported a senior political figure who met with him privately May 31. Just a few hours earlier, the prime minister hosted his old friend, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, in his office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu seemed at ease and was said to be beaming as he left the meeting. Graham, who is known for his hawkish foreign policy views, has been outspoken in his support for Israel and Netanyahu.

The source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu had a very positive attitude. Nothing about his behavior suggested that just hours earlier, the government that is likely to replace him made significant progress in achieving its goal. Yamina chair Naftali Bennett announced that he was determined to serve as prime minister for the change bloc. It sounded like the death knell for the Netanyahu government.

It is fairly safe to assume that Netanyahu succeeded in hiding his inner emotional turmoil from his guests during his meetings yesterday. Bennett, who is not yet 50, had served as his chief of staff when Netanyahu headed the opposition. Now the man that Netanyahu had come to disdain and refer to as the “high schooler,” is about to replace his old boss.

Far from a resounding defeat at the polls, the shift is the product of political maneuvering and coordination by the many parties on the left and the right who joined forces to unseat Netanyahu. Bennett heads a party with just seven seats while Netanyahu heads the largest political grouping in Israel: He controls 30 seats from people who voted directly for the Likud under his leadership, and another 22 seats from those who voted for him indirectly as leader of the right-wing bloc that their parties support. Netanyahu believes that he won the election, only to have his victory stolen by Bennett.