JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader.
The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came moments before a midnight deadline and prevented the country from plunging into what would have been its fifth consecutive election in just over two years.
In a statement on Twitter, Lapid said he had informed the country's president of the deal. “This government will work for all the citizens of Israel, those that voted for it and those that didn’t. It will do everything to unite Israeli society,” he said.
Netanyahu’s Likud won the most seats in the March 23 election, but he was unable to form a majority with his traditional religious and nationalist allies.
Crucially, a far-right party allied with Netanyahu refused to join forces with a small Arab party that emerged as one of the kingmakers in the race.
Netanyahu had hoped to extend his long rule and battle the corruption charges 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 coronavirus pandemic quickly became mired in political bickering and collapsed in December. That government remains in place as caretaker.
Amid the political deadlock, parliament on Wednesday elected Isaac Herzog, a veteran politician and the scion of a prominent Israeli family, as the country’s next president.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial role that is meant to serve as the nation’s moral compass and promote unity.
“I intend to be the president of everyone,” Herzog, whose late father held the same position, said after the votes were tallied. “We must defend Israel’s international status and its good reputation in the family of nations, fight antisemitism and hatred of Israel, and preserve the pillars of our democracy.”
Herzog, 60, is a former head of Israel’s Labor Party and opposition leader who unsuccessfully ran against Netanyahu in the 2015 parliamentary elections.
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