Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett still aren't having the practical conversation they ought to be having. They aren't even discussing the essential disagreements that are at the crux of their conflict. One of them talks about apples while the other talks about oranges. All the while, the daylight between coalition negotiators is growing, and they're becoming more impatient. The prime minister's point man at the negotiations, attorney David Shomron, has described this. Both Likud and Habayit Hayehudi have exploited recent, incidental political developments. The conflict between Likud and Habayit Hayehudi has centered around the deal that brought Tzipi Livni into the coalition. That debate is fabricated. Israel has declared it wants to return to negotiations with the Palestinians, and the moment Netanyahu and Bennett reach an understanding, Habayit Hayehudi will renege on its opposition to the Hatnuah chairwoman leading the peace talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Livni led the previous round of diplomatic negotiations with Ahmed Qurei more successfully than Ehud Olmert did with Abbas. Furthermore, the prime minister is also going to send his envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, to the talks. The problem is that the current window of opportunity is closing. Shaul Mofaz is bargaining day and night, though his entry into the next government is guaranteed. The duo leading Kadima Mofaz and MK Israel Hasson need to rely only on their rhetoric, which helps maintain their dignity in dealing with the issue of enlisting haredim into the IDF, to join the coalition immediately. If a deal is signed sometime this week between the two haredi parties which together count 18 Knesset seats it's unlikely that the coalition will have enough room for both Yesh Atid and Habayit Hayehudi. The prime minister and both Bennett and Lapid have adopted coping mechanisms for dealing with the looming "brinkmanship," which will persist up until a final agreement is settled. Netanyahu is minutes away from inking a deal with Shas, signaling his insistence on including haredim in the coalition. The question now is whether Bennett will join the government while abandoning his pact with Lapid, or whether he will try to sit in the opposition and deal with his MKs and rabbis from his home in Raanana. Last night he sounded confident, but no weighty decisions have been made. Can Lapid deal with staying in the opposition? Will he find work there under Shelly Yachimovich? Likud's efforts to woo Yachimovich into the government aren't really working, despite certain Labor MKs' eagerness to join the coalition. Some Yesh Atid MKs, who have served as mayors and business leaders, are professionally experienced, but it appears that most party members will be able to reconcile themselves with serving in the opposition. The clock is certainly ticking, and Bennett is going to have greater difficulty joining the coalition after Hatnuah, Kadima and the haredi parties are already inside. No one really knows whether he'll keep battling with Netanyahu one on one, or whether he'll give up the fight. Still, the time isn't ripe. There's still room to toy with the first crisis facing Hatnuah: Did Livni promise Amram Mitzna a ministerial portfolio, or will she be handing it over to Amir Peretz? One thing is clear, Mitzna had agreed to relinquish the Hatnuah list's second place in favor of Dan Meridor or Micha Lindenstrauss, certainly not Amir Peretz. The crisis, it seems, has already begun.
