Israel's Prime Minister-elect, Mr Ehud Barak, today gets down to the serious business of coalition-building, a task made more urgent by Mr Benjamin Netanyahu's abrupt near-abandonment of the office of prime minister following his defeat in last Monday's general election.
Mr Barak yesterday appointed a coalition task force, including several leading members of his triumphant One Israel party, which today and tomorrow will meet in turn with every party that has won seats in the new Knesset, including those that would appear to have little in common with his moderate mindset and therefore little prospect of joining his coalition.
But Mr Barak made it clear last night, at a victory celebration at Kibbutz Shfayim north of Tel Aviv, that he wasn't closing the door on any potential partners. His coalition, he said, would be "open to all those parties that want to work together with us to put Israel on a new path."
Asked whether that meant he was seriously contemplating forging a government with either or both Mr Netanyahu's Likud and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, he stressed that he intended to be "everybody's prime minister . . . including the ultra-Orthodox and the Jewish settlers."
Although last Monday's victory was a huge personal success for Mr Barak, One Israel - an alliance of the Labour Party, the Sephardi working-class Gesher party, and the moderate Orthodox Meimad movement - fared less impressively, winning only 26 seats in the 120-member house. Although that still makes it the largest party in parliament, it leaves Mr Barak scouting around for support from at least another 35 Knesset members, to give him a majority 61-strong coalition force.
But in constantly stressing his desire to "end the hatreds and divisions" in Israel, Mr Barak is making it plain that a narrow majority won't suffice. He wants 70 or even more Knesset members giving the stability to his government that Mr Netanyahu was never able to achieve. And that means making room for Shas, the Likud or both.
Some Labour supporters last night gently heckled his victory address with shouts of "Anyone but Shas", a sentiment echoed by several of the left-wing and centrist parties to which Mr Barak would like to turn first. But the incoming prime minister ignored the disturbance and repeated his unity mantra.
Mr Barak's desire to build the widest possible base of support for his government is already alienating some of his closest allies. Conspicuous by their absence from last night's festivities were Mr Yossi Beilin and Mr Avraham Burg, who played critical roles in the election success, and both of whom have been left out of Mr Barak's coalition task-force.