"Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain asked God after killing his brother Abel. Probably this is the epitome of two Israeli popular practices: insolence and answering-with-a-question. During the night of February 5, many signs like the one in the picture were placed along the entrances to Jerusalem. The message on the sign goes one step further, asking in bad Hebrew, "Is Lapid a Brother?!" In one of the most spectacular shows of political subtlety, the sign speaks against the forming alliance between Naftali Bennett, leader of The Jewish Home and Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid, Israel's second largest party. Together, they match the political strength that Netanyahu has. The three parties have enough votes to form a stable coalition. Thus, Netanyahu-Lapid-Bennettmay form the nucleus of Israeli leadership in the next few years. However, this is not a natural coalition between close friends; Bennett is furiously Religious-Zionist while Lapid is violently secular-humanist. The third side is not much friendlier towards the others, a prominent member of Netanyahu's Likud recently said, "Lapid's piss went up his head". Yet, Israel being Israel, these are courting rituals. The amount of published insults is proportionate to the seriousness of the negotiations. The uglier the insults, the more worried those opposing this unholy alliance are.

Those following this website know that on February 4, there was a historical encounter between rabbis of the Religious-Zionism and prominent Hasidic leaders (see IDF battles Jewish Orthodoxy). The Religious-Zionist participants were prominent rabbis who openly support Bennet. The topic was the creation of a joint religious front against secular-Zionists. There were signs that an agreement was possible; yet, considering the sides involved, it will take time. The last time these issues were seriously reviewed was in the 19^th century, when Religious-Zionism was created. Thus, it is easy to understand the shock of the ultra-Orthodox, when they found that at the same time of this meeting, Bennettwas closing the details of an alliance with their archenemy Lapid. Moreover, Bennett announced that he will meet Netanyahu next week, after the two hadn't spoken with each other for five years after a widely publicized verbal fight between Bennettand Netanyahu's wife. If this alliance is fruitful, then ultra-Orthodox parties will probably stay out of the coalition (until now this has rarely happened) and will face the recruitment of their young men. Bennett will become not only enter the category of "Am I my brother's keeper?" but will also become a traitor. The answer of ultra-Orthodox leaders came fast.

Revolution is Declared

Eli Yishai is the political leader of the Haredi Shas party and serves in the current coalition as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs. He is unlikely to keep any of these titles for much longer. Following the elections, his party has only 11 seats in the Knesset, one less than Bennett's party. Shas is unlikely to form part of the next coalition; thus Yishai will lose his ministerial posts. Aryeh Deri, a historical leader of the party, returned to political life a few months ago and is likely to retake the party's leadership. On February 8, under these tough circumstances, Yishai gave an astonishing interview to "Israel Today." He wouldn't have given it without the blessing and guidance of the party's religious leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.