The political clock is ticking

In the coming days, after consulting with representatives of all the parties in the Knesset, President Shimon Peres will task Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with assembling a new coalition. That is when the political clock begins ticking.

Ostensibly, Netanyahu has a lot of free time right now. Twenty-eight days is a long time to assemble a coalition, and if it turns out not be enough, the president can grant him an additional 14 days to complete the task, but anyone who has followed coalition negotiations over the years knows that the time flies.

Though Likud-Beytenu's negotiation team is the one leading the discussions with the other parties, one might say that time is working against them, since the ruling party's negotiation team may become stressed after failing to find a formula to ensure a wide, stable coalition within the first two or three weeks, forgetting that on Feb. 28 it will only be the first time limit to expire.

It is true that if that happens, in all likelihood the president will grant Netanyahu an extension of another 14 days (even though the law stipulates that the president "may" and not "must" grant an extension, which cannot exceed 14 days) but who can guarantee that these two weeks will soften the relevant coalition partners and lead them to agree to compromise on their guiding principles?

It is important to remember that if after the 14 additional days Netanyahu and Likud-Beytenu fail to form a coalition and present it to the Knesset, including a presentation of the coalition agreement principles and guidelines for the incoming government, the prime minister's party would have missed its opportunity to head the government and Peres would have to appoint another MK to complete the task.

In light of all this, Likud-Beytenu's negotiating team has to work efficiently, diligently and with the utmost seriousness from the get go. They have no time to waste. Their discussions must focus on the three most controversial issues: the number of ministers in the government (in light of Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid's demand to reduce the number of ministers to 18, from the current 27 ministers and 7 deputy ministers), the division of labor within the government and service for all (ensuring that every young ultra-Orthodox man either serves in the army or completes some form of civil service). If Likud-Beytenu, Yesh Atid, Habayit Hayehudi and the ultra-Orthodox parties can reach acceptable compromises on all three issues, it will be possible to resolve all the other weighty issues as well.