WarSclerotic

Some say that was the moment the Prime Minister decided to close a deal, already being discussed, with Mr. Mofaz.

“In effect,” said Hanan Crystal, a political commentator for Israel Radio, “he’s telling MK Danon and others: ‘the Likud is not a nationalist-religious party, it’s a centralist liberal party.’”

For his part, even the dour Mr. Mofaz couldn’t keep from smiling. With this one stroke he had saved the Kadima party that was facing a stunningly large loss of seats in any election this year, and catapulted himself to the front bench of government.

Mr. Mofaz will serve as the deputy prime minister in the government and will stand in for Mr. Netanyahu whenever the Prime Minister is absent. He also will be a member of the powerful security cabinet. As well, Kadima representatives will now chair three committees in the Knesset.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, an apparent broker in the coalition deal, also is happy. Having split from the Labour Party last year in order to remain in the government, his five-member Independence Party was facing annihilation in a September election. This way, Mr. Barak lives to fight another year as defence minister.

The big losers in this unexpected development must certainly include the recently-elected Labour Party leader Shelly Yachimovich, who is stuck now with only eight members of Knesset instead of the 18-19 that opinion polls suggested she’d capture in an election this year.

Ms. Yachimovich, an assertive and articulate former journalist who had revived Labour after Mr. Barak’s departure, denounced the accord.

“This is a pact of cowards and the most contemptible and preposterous zigzag in Israel’‎s political history,” she ‎said “‎Nobody will ever forget this shady deal, and unfortunately, this will cause profound damage to public faith in politics.”

Another apparently big loser is Yair Lapid, the entertaining former television news anchor who only last month announced the formation of a new political party that, polls indicated, could win some 11 seats were an election to take place soon.

Mr. Lapid described the unity government as precisely the kind of detestable and ugly politics he sought to eliminate. This repulsive political alliance will bury all of its participants under it, he said.