(CNN) Hours before the first rockets were fired toward Jerusalem two weeks ago, the bloc of political parties trying to oust long-term Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power was cautiously optimistic. But then just after 6 p.m. on May 10, Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel, setting off air raid sirens not heard in Jerusalem for years. Soon after, Israel launched airstrikes against what it said were militant targets in Gaza. A bloody 11-day conflict was set in motion and the landscape of Israeli politics shifted. Without Bennett, Lapid's bloc would be short of the numbers needed to form a government.

Source: CNN May 26, 2021 12:11 UTC