A "Shocker" for those who follow Israeli Politics

Breaking News: Israeli Labor Party votes to join Netanyahu gov't

What makes this interesting is that Prime Minister designate Netanyahu is a hardliner, believing circumstances are not right for peace with the Palestinians since they have no true spokesmen (Gaza is in the hands of Hamas, but the U.N. and others have kept Fatah's Abu Mazen in power in the West Bank, even though Hamas has been, until recently, more popular there as well). His natural allies are the more hawkish parties, and he has already made alliances with two of them.

In getting Labor to join his government, Netanyahu bypassed the more centrist (and largest) party in Israel's Knesset, Kadima, which was founded by the late Prime Minister and former head of Netanyahu's Likud party, Ariel Sharon. Kadima wanted greater power in a coalition, including half of the Prime Minister's term for its leader, Tzipi Livni.

Labor is much more "pro-peace," favoring negotiations and territorial concessions. How they will work in this government is anybody's guess, but Netanyahu counts on the fact that that even if not in government, hawkish parties will support him; and Labor, decimated in the last election, may be seeking to stay relevant by being in government rather than in an opposition dominated by Kadima.