The Misha'lgate scandal, as the Israeli press…

The key questions, though, are whether the ailing sixty-one-year-old Yassin, after eight years in Israeli imprisonment, retains his influence over the militant wing of Hamas and, if he does, whether he will use it to curb or promote terror.

Conservative and Reform Jews had petitioned the Supreme Court, challenging the monopoly of the Orthodox Jews on the practice of religious conversions to Judaism.

The Orthodox parties demand that Netanyahu push through legislation that would enshrine their position on this issue and threaten to bring his government down if he did not do so.

Netanyahu's secular coalition partners threaten to bring the government down if he does.

American Jews, most of them Conservative or Reform, warn of a schism if the proposed legislation is enacted and threaten to reduce their fund-raising for Israel in that event.

Netanyahu sets up a committee to work out a compromise, and when the Orthodox leadership rejects its proposals in October, all sides agreed to allow an additional three months for devising a solution.