Labor Joins Israeli Coalition

Descriptions of Israel’s “hawkish” government under prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu will now require a caveat: According to The Wall Street Journal, the left-leaning Labor Party has agreed to join the governing coalition. The agreement includes a commitment to pursue peace in the region and five cabinet positions for Labor. It also tips Netanyahu’s coalition into a majority of the Knesset, but six of Labor’s thirteen parliamentarians opposed the move. In his speech last night, President Obama said the hawkish Netanyahu’s ascendancy makes peace "not easier than it was," though "just as necessary."