Last month, along with most everybody else, I reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had seemingly survived reelection after Israel’s right-wing parties had secured a majority of the seats. But after weeks of intense negotiations, Netanyahu has been unable to form a government, and if he does not by Wednesday, it could force Israel to hold another costly election.

The source of the deadlock actually has nothing to do with Palestinians, the peace process, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, or any of the issues that typically dominate discourse about Israel in the United States. Instead, the issue concerns the debate over ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the military.