Israeli opposition declares new govt, set to unseat Netanyahu

Israelis eyed the end of an era Thursday after a motley alliance of parties from across the political spectrum agreed to form a government to unseat veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid announced the deal just minutes before a midnight (2100 GMT) Wednesday deadline, prompting celebrations into the early hours by the premier’s opponents and a defiant show of support by his fans.

On paper, the prospective coalition commands a slender majority in parliament but a confidence vote is not expected for several days, giving Netanyahu time to woo potential defectors among the unlikely bedfellows ranged against him.

With the threat of possible jail time hanging over him in his ongoing trial on corruption charges, the 71-year-old incumbent is unlikely to give up without a fight and analysts warned a messy battle could yet lie ahead before his record 12 straight years in office come to an end.

Lapid announced his new coalition late Wednesday, but must still iron out details with his seven partners before putting it to the vote in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

There is some dispute over the precise deadline for him to do so. The current parliament speaker, a Netanyahu ally, could delay the vote until mid-June, although Lapid’s coalition aimed Thursday to vote in a new speaker who could speed up the timeline.

His coalition would see the religious-nationalist Naftali Bennett serve as prime minister for two years before Lapid, a secular centrist, would take the helm.

Supporters of Netanyahu, who is renowned as a ruthless political operator, worked to undermine the fledgling coalition.

Should last-minute defections scupper the “change” alliance, Israel would likely have to hold yet another election, the fifth in just over two years.

“Opening the champagne right now is a bit hasty,” said Tamar Hermann, a political scientist at the Israel Democracy Institute.

– ‘I succeeded’ –
Lapid, 57, a former TV presenter who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, put his own prime ministerial ambitions on hold to broker the coalition deal.

“I succeeded,” he proclaimed less an hour before the deadline.

“I promise that this government will work in the service of all of the citizens of Israel, those who voted for it and those who did not,” he wrote on Facebook.

Tel Aviv resident Chen Kostukovksy was among the Netanyahu opponents celebrating early Thursday. Punch