AFTER MORE than a month of tortuous coalition negotiations the new Israeli government led by the leader of the right-wing Likud party, Binyamin Netanyahu, will be sworn into office this afternoon.
After initially declaring that his Labor party would go into opposition, Ehud Barak, who will continue to serve as defence minister, was persuaded to join the government, widening the political base of the right-wing and religious coalition.
Mr Netanyahu, Mr Barak and the surprise choice as foreign minister, the leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, will make up the key axis in the new government. Their ability to work together will go a long way to determining how long the coalition will last in the traditionally unstable maelstrom of Israeli politics.
But the omens are not good.
First, there exist significant political differences between the new prime minister, who opposes a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Mr Barak, whose Labor party is committed to the land-for-peace formula. Mr Barak also supports a new ceasefire arrangement with Hamas in Gaza; both Mr Netanyahu and his new foreign minister have spoken in favour of toppling the Hamas regime.
The differences are just as wide in the economic sphere. Both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Lieberman are old-school monetarists, whereas Labor's social democratic policies are endorsed by the Histadrut trade union federation.
Vague government policy guidelines can paper over ideological differences, there is no love lost between Mr Barak and Mr Lieberman, who recently described the Labor leader as "the worst defence minister in Israel's history".
Addressing the Knesset parliament yesterday, Mr Netanyahu said his government "will make every effort to achieve a just and lasting peace with all of our neighbours and the Arab world in its entirety." He promised that any Arab country willing to make peace will be met with an "outstretched hand" by his government.
Outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert urged him to endorse the peace process and endorse a Palestinian state.
The new government will be one of the largest in Israel's history with no less than 30 ministers. Forced to make generous offers in distributing portfolios to Yisrael Beiteinu and Labor, as well as the other coalition partners, Mr Netanyahu still had to satisfy the demands of his own party Knesset members.