It all began with the "National Bill for the Jewish State", an attempt by conservative members of the Knesset to redefine Israel from "Jewish and Democratic" to "the homeland of the Jewish People". Many international commentators, Israeli leftists, and moderate members of the Knesset argued that such a drastic change to the constitution would effectively erode its democratic core, and would legally classify non-Jewish people as second-class citizens. The highly-polarizing bill caused an uproar both in the Cabinet and in the Israeli civil society. When the bill caused a schism in the cabinet, former Justice Minister Tzipi Livini immediately voiced her concerns that it was being used as leverage by Netanyahu to fire the uncooperative members of the cabinet, and to force early re-elections. Although Netanyahu vehemently denied these claims, it appears that Livini was eerily accurate in her prediction. Shortly after that statement, in fact, Netanyahu fired the dissenting ministers, dissolved the parliament, and called for new elections. Riding on a wave of Zionist propaganda of fear, based on the developments around the world that favour a Palestinian state and a peaceful solution, Netanyahu managed to seize an even larger segment of the Knesset than he previously held, consolidating his power for another term.

Shortly after his landslide win Netanyahu appointed his Cabinet of Ministers. At least five of these are known to have called for the extermination of the Palestinian people or for having made similarly racist remarks.