Netanyahu poised for possible return to power, dividing Israel again

JERUSALEM — The unusual Israeli government that was formed last June had one job: to pry Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu from the prime minister’s office.

Netanyahu was clinging to power after four inconclusive elections, fighting multiple corruption indictments and, critics say, wreaking havoc on Israel’s democratic institutions. In stepped the unlikely “change coalition” of right-wing, left-wing and Arab parties that agreed on almost nothing but the need to oust Netanyahu and pull Israel out of its spiraling political crises.