Cheering and applause accompanied the new leader of the opposition, Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu, when he left the plenum this morning, July 6. It had been a long, hard night, and in the end the coalition suffered a stunning defeat by failing to extend the amendment to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel law, targeting Palestinians married to Israelis and preventing family reunions. 

“You’re our prime minister now and forever,” someone in the chamber called to him. Netanyahu waved back in victory before leaving to catch a few hours of sleep. He still had a full day of exhausting parliamentary squabbles ahead of him, and he had been up all night. Perhaps he wanted to serve as a personal example to the other members of the Likud, or perhaps he wanted to instill a fighting spirit in them. The new government did not fall. It can continue to function, at least for the time being. Still, there was no doubt that it suffered a serious defeat.

Netanyahu, now 72, served as prime minister for 12 consecutive years, and another three years, from 1996 to 1999. Last month, he began his third term as leader of the opposition. Although he is fighting criminal charges in court, he still believes that in another year or two, he will be back in the prime minister’s office.

Anyone who expected Netanyahu to resign, or at least to slip into a state of melancholy after losing his job as prime minister, is discovering yet again that this is one man who never gives up. It is the secret of his survival.