Coalitions

How does a government coalition work?
The party that is given the mandate to build a coalition starts by deciding what their goals are for accomplishing during the term. They then have to decide among all the other parties, who most closely resembles their goals and on the flip side whose demands will not cause too much of a strain from their core voters. When the Likud spoke to Kadima, they insisted on giving up too much to the Arabs without negotiation or getting anything in return. Kadima is like the bend over party and they act surprised when they are taken advantage of  (see rockets flying regularly from the gaza strip).

The larger the party is, the more they can get in a coalition agreement. In the last government, the bayit yehudi only had 3 seats. They received a minor ministry, positions in some important governmental committees and around 400 million shekels a year for Torah education. Of the more important decisions were the agreements to "consider", "think about", "form committees" and other nonsense about issues that are important to the national religious public. We also got control over national service.

I think the funniest item in the coalition agreement was the clause that there would be a forum based on good will and mutual interest between Shas and Bayit Yehudi regarding religious services.

In the upcoming Knesset, I would like to see a natural coalition of Likud, Israel Our Home (Lieberman) and Bayit Yehudi. They all have the same basic guidelines for how he country should be run.