by Keren Setton
JERUSALEM, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has less than two weeks to form his new government, but the coalition talks are at an impasse as his partners' demands are currently refused by him.
In an attempt to put pressure on his potential partners in the right-wing and the religious parties, Netanyahu opened his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday by saying he regrets "the parties are still in the treetops."
"I hope that a way will be found soon to bring them down to the ground of reality, so that together we can form a strong and stable government for the State of Israel that will continue to lead the country to new heights," he added.
In all likelihood, Netanyahu will be successful in forming a new government, and probably use every minute he has until the May 28 deadline.
"The talks are stuck because the parties have conflicting interests," said Shmuel Sandler, professor of the Department of Political Studies at Bar Ilan University. "In the end, each one will make concessions because no one wants elections again."
Netanyahu leads the Likud party, which won 35 mandates in the April election. Together with Jewish ultra-orthodox parties and other nationalist parties, he leads a majority of 65 parliament members of 120 seats.
The talks are expected to be fruitful, because Netanyahu is looking to secure his political future. His recent election victory brought him a fifth term in office and in the summer he will break the record as Israel's longest serving prime minister.
The prime minister is facing a hearing with the attorney general in the coming months, which will determine whether he will be indicted on several counts of corruption.
Netanyahu denies all the allegations against him, and intends to fight a parliamentary battle and a legal battle that will keep him in politics for as long as possible. His potential partners know about this and their demands are accordingly high.
"The parties' demands are disproportionate," said Gayil Talshir, from political science department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "It is because they know Netanyahu can be pressured and really doesn't have any other options."
While Netanyahu and other members of the Likud have said the contentious laws are not part of the coalition talks, it is believed there is a tacit agreement with the potential partners to vote in favor of the laws once the government is formed.
The proposals to reform the supreme court and widen the already existing immunity law have caused political uproar in the country, especially among those who oppose Netanyahu.
"The ultra-orthodox and other parties do not really care about these laws," Sandler told Xinhua, indicating they are more concerned with other issues.
In an attempt to cater to the engorged demands of the coalition partners, Netanyahu and his interim cabinet passed a decision on Sunday that would allow the expansion of the cabinet from the previous limit of 18 ministerial portfolios to up to 28.
While there are core issues that need to be ironed out between the partners of the future coalition, the stalemate in the talks at the moment is largely a result of Netanyahu's precarious legal position which allows the partners to make high demands.
Talshir thought Netanyahu is expected to be very generous in granting his partners many of their wishes in the form of numerous ministerial positions even for small parties.
