(members of Knesset) or at least to get 61 votes (including some MK not in the government) to vote to seat the new government.
This time, Netanyahu's main goal seems to have been a coalition that would pass a bill giving the sitting PM immunity to prosecution and to diminish the power of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has acted as a break to the right wing shift of the government.
This time is fascinating as Avigdor Lieberman, less liked by liberal Jews than Joe Lieberman, may be the person who breaks Netanyahu's grasp on the premiership. He is a secular, right wing politician, who has a lot of support with the former Soviet Jews and the settlers.
His complaint is that with an unusually high number of 16 ultra orthodox MK who would be in Netanyahu's coalition, rather than a right wing coalition, it would be a Halaka (Jewish law) coalition. (Substitute Sharia (Islamic law) to understand the complaint for a secular person.) In particular, Lieberman has made it about the quota of ultra orthodox men who could be drafted. Neither he - or the ultra orthodox, who say they have already compromised "enough".
If Netanyahu pulls Lieberman back in - or even gets him to vote for his coalition, this will be a terrible result for Israel from the perspective of liberal American non orthodox Jews. The American Jewish community was more angered by the treatment of non orthodox Judaism and things like Netanyahu backing down on a compromise to allow women to pray at one part of the Western Wall.
The strength of the ultra orthodox greatly increased with this election. It is not even limited to the 16 MK from the 2 ultra orthodox parties. Here is a wikipedia article of the far right union MK, who was rumored in some articles to be given the Justice portofolio (he originally demanded either that or education). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezalel_Smotrich
As noted by many Israeli articles, many other Likud politicians could with blue and white (Gantz's party) form a centrist government. It may be that Netanyahu's top goal of getting immunity and neutering the Supreme Court means he can only get a very right wing government.
One other comment - Israel is NOT the Israel of the 1960s and 1970s. When I went to J Street with a group (including our rabbi), we learned from the several Meretz, Labor and Hatuna MKs that there was NO possible chance of a center/left government. This was before Gantz formed his policy. However, while everyone in that party objected to Netanyahu -- it would be a mistake to assume that that party leans left.
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