With much ceremony, and a few weeks late, the sixth Netanyahu government was sworn in yesterday.
As is usually the case in such events, the Knesset is divided.
There are those full of joy, and those who are curmudgeonly.
Many of the new ministers arrived accompanied by their family members, excited and full of adrenaline, some of them can't believe that they have reached the desired moment.
They know that the expectations of them are sky high and the media will not give them even one day of compassion, but on this day they also found time to be happy, hug each other and radiate happiness everywhere.
Even Netanyahu himself would have seemed excited.
In his speech he said that he was as excited as the first time he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Israel in 1996.
Netanyahu's return to power after a year and a half in which he was removed from the leadership wheel occurs when Netanyahu seems more mature, more supervised, more experienced.
Or is it just compared to the group of amateurs who replaced him during his absence.
Netanyahu seemed to have been waiting for this moment more than anyone, even though the members of the Knesset from the ultra-orthodox factions could not hide the uplifted mood with which they walked around the building.
For them too, returning to the government is a correction.
Correction to the government that made them a victim and hurt them, maliciously and with deliberate intent.
Now the tables have turned.
The ultra-Orthodox are up again, and the Horshis of their flock are down.
We will consider it karma.
They call it private supervision.
The first cabinet meeting, photo: Ohad Zweigenberg
The results sign after the approval of the new government, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Yair Lapid at the swearing in of the government, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Beyond the plenum hall, where the change of government took place with speeches, voting and the swearing in of the ministers, most of the feature in the building was concentrated in the MKs' buffet on the 3rd floor, and on the floor below, the government floor, which yesterday hosted the many television studios that came to cover the event. The buffet was full to the brim. This is the place where the coalition and the opposition sit together, close deals and just sit down for lunch. In the Knesset, the regulars already know the routine. Together with the subject of his readings, they both smile and wince.
There are no cameras in the cafeteria.
An age-old deal between journalists and members of the Knesset states that what happens in the cafeteria stays in the cafeteria.
It is forbidden to take pictures or record there.
There yesterday Benoah Ze'ev Elkin, one of the leaders of the opposition, felt suspicious of Danny Danon, one of the disappointed Likud who remained outside the government table.
There, Netanyahu's victims Danon, Amsalem and Edelstein sat together in a brief meeting that says a lot,
On the government floor, the studio floor, mainly the atmosphere of the disabled.
The presenters, broadcasters and reporters look as if they have come to cover Memorial Day.
The government is not to their liking but they have to play the game.
The diligent female producers hunt down the members of the Knesset who pass by in the corridor and invite them to sit in front of the microphone.
The presence of the security guards and ushers in front of the Prime Minister's Office causes vigilance among the presenters of the live broadcasts.
But it soon became clear that it was just Yair Lapid.
They thought it might be Netanyahu.
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