Netanyahu’s opponents race to finalize coalition to oust him as deadline looms
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents were racing Wednesday to finalize a coalition government to end his 12-year rule — the longest of any Israeli premier — ahead of a midnight deadline.
Centrist Yair Lapid and ultra-nationalist Naftali Bennett have joined forces and agreed to rotate the premiership between them, with Bennett going first, but are still working to cobble together a ruling coalition that would include parties from across the political spectrum.
Israeli media reported that some lingering disagreements remain over lower-level political appointments but that Lapid was likely to announce an agreement sometime Wednesday.
He faces a midnight deadline to inform Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that he has formed a majority coalition of at least 61 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. The assembly would then have a week to hold a vote of confidence.
If Lapid misses the midnight deadline, the country will almost certainly go into its fifth election in just over two years, and Netanyahu would have yet another chance to hold onto his position even as he stands trial for corruption.
Netanyahu’s Likud party won the most seats in the March 23 election, but he was unable to form a majority with his natural allies. Crucially, a far-right party allied with Netanyahu refused to join forces with a small Arab party that emerged as a kingmaker of sorts.
Samir Mansour’s bookstore was a cultural magnet for residents of the Gaza Strip until an Israeli airstrike leveled it. Now he has to start over.
Netanyahu had hoped to extend his long rule and battle the corruption charges against him from the prime minister’s office. He has emerged as a deeply polarizing force in recent years, leaving Israel in a prolonged state of political limbo through a series of inconclusive elections.
An emergency government formed last year between Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz to battle the COVID-19 pandemic quickly became mired in political bickering and collapsed in December. That government remains in place as caretaker.
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