While the Kadima Party ended up finishing first in last week’s election, their path to forming a coalition appears to be a rocky one, and even as the rival Likud Party’s own bloc falters Kadima seems to have struggled to hold on to what little support they had.
Though Kadima is reportedly in talks with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party, it seems unlikely they will secure an endorsement from them. At the same time cozying up to the controversial Lieberman will reportedly cost them the potential endorsements of the Labor and Meretz parties. If that happens, Kadima may have only the endorsement of their own party in the effort to form the next government.
President Shimon Peres will begin talks with Kadima and Likud tomorrow, with the other parties following up in the next few days. This gives Kadima little time to secure any other endorsements, but even if they somehow manage to get the chance at forming a coalition, their inability to find any support on the right or left makes it inconceivable that they would be able to secure the 61 seats to form a government.