![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 16, 2013. Netanyahu called on Sunday for no let-up in international pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions after the election of a new president widely seen as a moderate. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX10PJ1](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/Netanyahu2.jpg/Netanyahu2.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=_tFUSQ1T)
![Mazal Mualem](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-09/mazal%20book%202.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=28S04G5r)
In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics
Mazal Mualem is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Israel Pulse and formerly the senior political correspondent for Maariv and Haaretz. She also presents a weekly TV show covering social issues on the Knesset channel. She is the author of "Cracking the Netanyahu Code" (published 2022). On Twitter: @mazalm3
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 16, 2013. Netanyahu called on Sunday for no let-up in international pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions after the election of a new president widely seen as a moderate. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX10PJ1](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/Netanyahu2.jpg/Netanyahu2.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=_tFUSQ1T)
![1-fahina_k_erezbit287_7330066.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/1-fahina_k_erezbit287_7330066.jpg/1-fahina_k_erezbit287_7330066.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=Z8c3opxJ)
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) heads the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 23, 2013. Netanyahu's cabinet will vote on Sunday on a decision to keep most of Israel's newfound natural gas for domestic use, but to still allow enough exports to satisfy exploration companies seeking access to the global market. REUTER/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTX10XWG](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/Netanyahu-cabinet.jpg/Netanyahu-cabinet.jpg?h=930a6ae7&itok=cHpPJoFg)
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![Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) meets head of the Bayit Yehudi party Naftali Bennett at Peres' residence in Jerusalem January 31, 2013. Peres began talks with political parties on Wednesday over who should form a new government and appears certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3D6TK](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/RTR3D6TK.jpg/RTR3D6TK.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=uGXjTbVk)
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![Rwanda President Paul Kagame (2nd L) and his wife Jeannette (L), U.S. singer-actress Barbra Streisand (3rd L), former U.S. President Bill Clinton (4th L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) and his wife Sarah (R) attend celebrations marking Israeli President Shimon Peres' (3rd R) 90th birthday in Jerusalem June 18, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Hollander/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT) - RTX10SO1](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/1-RTX10SO1.jpg/1-RTX10SO1.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=tyWkLboQ)
![Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Avigdor Liberman listens to a translator during a news conference with his Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado after their meeting in Lisbon January 25, 2011. REUTERS/Jose Manuel Ribeiro (PORTUGAL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXX2FL](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/1-RTXX2FL.jpg/1-RTXX2FL.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=YeHEaXUi)
![Greece's Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis (L) shakes hands with Nabeel Shaath, Envoy of the President of the Palestinian Authority, in Athens September 9, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2R16W](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/RTR2R16W.jpg/RTR2R16W.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=Lb5K2ovV)
![Israeli soldiers, atop a tank, prepare to leave their Gaza border position at sun rise November 22, 2012. A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers took hold on Thursday after eight days of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (ISRAEL - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR3AQ08](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/RTR3AQ08.jpg/RTR3AQ08.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=-W2Ci0Oz)
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 9, 2013. Israel aims to stay out of Syria's civil war, Netanyahu said on Sunday, signalling restraint despite violence eroding security at the Golan Heights border area. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST HEADSHOT) - RTX10H62](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/RTX10H62.jpg/RTX10H62.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=XPYNgWzs)
![Ran Cohen, (L), Haim Oron, (C), and Amnon Rubinstein, (R), of the left-wing Meretz Party leaving a seaside hotel near Tel Aviv where they held coalition talks with representatives of Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak's One Israel alliance. Meretz was the first of 14 political parties to discuss a governing partnership with One Israel and negotiations are expected to last well into next week. Barak has 45 days to form a new government under Israeli law.
HL/CLH/ - RTRPG2O](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/1-RTRPG2O.jpg/1-RTRPG2O.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=mR154Rpf)