The opposition agreed; Netanyahu without a new mandate due to a man from the Balkans
Leaders of the far-right Yamina and centrist Yesh Atid, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, and Ra''am (United Arab List) chairman Mansour Abbas have reached an agreement on a unity government whose deadline was midnight local time.
In a statement on Twitter, Lapid said that he informed the president of the country about the agreement.
"This government will work for all the citizens of Israel, those who voted for it and those who did not. It will do everything to unite the Israeli society," the leader of the party Yesh Atid said, Reuters reports.
Lapid, who has been the leader of the opposition so far, should have had the support of the majority, i.e. 120 deputies in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. His coalition will also include Yamina's extreme right-wing party. Namely, the leader of Yamina, Naftali Bennett and Lapid, agreed to rotate as prime minister, so the prime minister will be Bennett for the first two years, and then Lapid will replace him in that position.
Until then, Lapid will perform the duty of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Israel thus got a new government tonight which, after 12 years, will not be led by Benjamin Netanyahu. This irritated the prime minister, known by the nickname Bibi. Because, by losing the leading political position, he will not be able to change the law in order to gain immunity, so he will lose control over certain appointments within the Ministry of Justice.
He is on trial for criminal charges of embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power, which he denies.
Deadline until midnight
The deadline for announcing the agreement was midnight, and the Israeli daily "Haaretz" announced at 22:54 that the agreement had been reached and that Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid had reached an...
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