Tzipi Livni's Hatnua party was first to sign a coalition agreement yesterday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. According to the agreement, if Netanyahu forms the next coalition, Livni will be the next minister of justice and will coordinate the peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Her six-member party will also receive another portfolio: Former minister of Defence Amir Peretz will be minister for environmental affairs. This development brings Netanyahu only slightly closer to the 61 Members of Knesset that he needs to secure a government coalition, but it puts pressure on the parties that are playing hard-to-get (Lapid's Yesh Atid, Bennet's Habayit Hayehudi, Shas and Torah Judaism), to go ahead, join, and secure meaningful portfolios.
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Watching new governments being assembled is like a visit to a salami factory. Your first impulse is to swear off of salami. However, with all its ugliness, this is the epitome of the democratic process in Israel. It is barehanded trials-and-errors manifestations of what politicians must do to get some piece of the political power.
The election took place and people voted for parties, and the slates were a list of names, some better known and some better left unknown -- not very democratic, because no MK has a direct responsibility to a constituency.
But trying to get together a "matched deck of cards" out of the melange of parties, interests, personalities, etc., is where Israeli democracy is most in view. And the more one sees, the more one understands how Israel works (or doesn't).
levni is in charge of the palestinian peace negotiations might help because she knows everything about it but does she has the freedom to negotiate or she will be netanyahu's puppet.