The master tactician has played a blinder
In one fell swoop, by bringing Kadima into his coalition, it seems Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to make the more extreme members of his government a total irrelevance.
As he heads into the last 18 months of his term as PM, Netanyahu is the king of all that he surveys. He can now, if he wants, make those changes to policy that, as he told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he could not contemplate because of the make-up of his right-wing coalition.
If he wanted to do a deal with the Palestinians based on the 1967 lines with some land exchange, as proposed by President Barack Obama, he could do it with the support of most of his Likud, Kadima, Labour, Meretz, the Arab parties and Atzmaut.
If he wanted to pass a law making it mandatory for all Israeli citizens over the age of 18, irrespective of race, gender or level of religious observance, to do some form of national or communal service, he could easily, because for that he is supported by all the secular and religious, but not ultra-Orthodox, parties.
And if he wanted to pass a budget that could help the struggling lower and middle classes without hitting entrepreneurs, he could, because he would have a mandate to cut subsidies to the ultra-Orthodox and the settlement enterprise which are a drain on Israel's limited resources.
The question is, of course, will he take this golden opportunity to do all of the above and change Israel's political system which is so open to sectoral abuse?
On his previous record, it would be wise to remain sceptical. Turkeys, even Israeli ones, rarely – if ever - vote for Christmas.
But then again, no Israeli prime minister, not even Ben Gurion, has ever commanded the support of 94 MKs in the 120-member Knesset.
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