Monday night in the Knesset belonged to the opposition. In a rare show of unity, it succeeded in forcing Benjamin Netanyahu to back down over his plan to push through a quick vote that would enable the government to authorise a regulatory framework for Israel's natural gas sector, despite the objections of the anti-trust commissioner.

Shortly before midnight, the Prime Minister conceded defeat when his office announced that the framework would be first presented to the public the next day, and only then would he seek another vote.

A jubilant Labour leader, Isaac Herzog, was quick to take credit for the opposition's first victory since the new government was sworn in six-and-a-half weeks ago.

The Prime Minister's proposal - to allow the consortium of Israel's Delek Group and American Nobel Energy to keep most of their monopoly on the offshore gas fields - is still likely to go through eventually, but the fault-lines in Mr Netanyahu's minimal coalition have risen to the surface.

His Finance Minister, Moshe Kahlon, is refusing to deal with the gas issue, citing conflicts of interest, as are two other government ministers. Meanwhile, his Economy Minister, Aryeh Deri, will not co-operate on bypassing the anti-trust commissioner.

No-confidence motions are almost a weekly occurrence

Lacking the necessary votes, Mr Netanyahu could not have his way. This does not bode well for a prime minister who still has to push through an overdue state budget.

But Mr Herzog also knows that his satisfaction may be very short-lived. He was a latecomer to the gas debate, and his old - and perhaps future - rival for the Labour leadership, Shelly Yachimovich, has long been the standard-bearer on this issue.

Mr Herzog would not have won on Monday night were it not for his behind-the-scenes collaboration with Mr Kahlon and Mr Deri. He was also saved by Avigdor Lieberman's last-minute decision that, while he supported the Prime Minister's framework, he was not going to serve as Mr Netanyahu's safety net - or, as he put it, "my back won't be a trampoline".

Mr Lieberman will eventually give the coalition the necessary votes to push the framework through the Knesset - he just wants the Prime Minister to sweat first.

Mr Herzog cannot even control his own party, which is gearing up for a leadership primary, and he holds no sway over the other parties outside the coalition. On the right, Mr Lieberman has his own agenda and is much closer to ministers like Mr Deri and Mr Kahlon than to his opposition colleagues on the left.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid still sees himself as the next prime minister and will challenge Mr Herzog at every turn. Further left, Meretz and Joint Arab List MKs - who are on the verge of breaking up into their original parties - all have their own points to score.

No-confidence motions are almost a weekly occurrence but none of the opposition parties can summon enough votes to seriously trouble the coalition, even though in theory they should be able to keep every MK in the frame.

The same is true for legislation: very few opposition law proposals have the potential of attracting both nationalist MKs from Yisrael Beitenu and far-left Arabs. Mr Netanyahu can rely - at least most of the time - on coalition discipline. Except this week, that is, when he could not.