As the real results of the March 2 elections emerge, it is clear that no one candidate has the 61 MKs they need to form a stable government.
A hunt for defectors from other parties could provide the answer of course, but it is not an easy maneuver to pull off, as convincing politicians to switch sides isn't only politically complex, there's also legal intricacies to take into consideration.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses supporters after the exit polls showed his Likud party on course to win the most Knesset seats
(Photo: Getty Images)
Under the current law, one third of any political party can defect to another party without any legal ramifications or sanctions, but a defection of any other size would almost certainly result in sanctions against the defectors - such as only running as part of a newly established party in the next elections, a budget cut, and a prohibition of serving as a minister).
Still there are exceptions, such as the head of the liberal centrist Gesher party, Orly Levy, who has been marked by the Likud as a possible addition to their ranks due to the fact she is the only one from her party to win a seat in the 23rd Knesset.
Levy made it clear on Monday that she has no intention of joining the Likud ranks, but as the need for her vote in forming a government grows, so too will the pressure she will face, and the offer will become more and more enticing.
Another option is for Likud to offer a Knesset member to join their ranks and vote in favor of forming a government, only for that person to resign soon after in exchange for a political position outside parliament (such as an ambassadorship) and a promise to run as part of the Likud in the next elections.
The problem in such a scenario is that while it makes it possible to form a government, a bloc of just 60 MKs is hard to control, and even harder to maintain.
A third option is for Likud to convince a MK to defect to their ranks in exchange for a position as a chairman of a prestigious Knesset committee (such as Finance or Foreign Affairs and Defense), knowing that same MK will have to deal with the accompanying sanctions incurred by such a move.
One name that repeatedly cropped up as a possible defector to the Likud ranks was ultra-Orthodox Blue & White MK Omer Yankelevich, who said after Monday's elections that she would never defect.
"It is all rumors, it is not going to happen," Yankelevich said.
Yankelevich, who was personally recruited to Blue & White by its leader Benny Gantz, was recently mentioned in a leaked recording of Gantz's former aide Israel Bachar, who was recorded saying that Yankelevich had called Gantz "stupid and worth less than zero."
Yankelevich vehemently denied she did any such thing.
After the April elections, it emerged that Natan Eshel, a close associate of Netanyahu, tried to coerce Yankelevich to defect to Likud by trying to influence her through a political appointment, her friends and her husband.
"We have people who already talked to her," says Eshel in transcript of a conversation he had with an ultra-Orthodox interlocutor.
"We had a friend of hers talk to her," Eshel says. "If her husband is ultra-Orthodox, we will surely be able to influence her; she won't be able to stand it."