Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced that he has formed a new coalition, setting the stage for him to return to power as head of the most right-wing government ever to hold office in the country.
Netanyahu made the announcement in a telephone call to Israeli President Isaac Herzog moments before a midnight deadline. His Likud party released a brief video clip of a smiling Netanyahu and a recording of the conversation.
“I wanted to announce to you that thanks to the amazing public support we received in the elections, I have succeeded in forming a government that will take care of all the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Photo: AP
The move came after weeks of surprisingly difficult negotiations with his partners — who still have to finalize their power-sharing deals with Likud.
Nonetheless, Netanyahu said he intends to complete the process “as soon as possible next week.”
A date for its swearing-in was not immediately announced.
Photo: AFP
Even if he is successful, Netanyahu faces a difficult task ahead. He would preside over a coalition dominated by far-right and Orthodox partners pushing for dramatic changes that could alienate large swaths of the Israeli public, raise the risk of conflict with the Palestinians and put Israel on a collision course with some of its closest supporters, including Washington and the Jewish community in the US.
Netanyahu has reached agreements with some of the most controversial figures in Israeli politics.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, who once was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization, has been appointed Israeli minister of public security — a new position that would place him in charge of the national police force.
Netanyahu’s running mate, Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler leader who believes Israel should annex the occupied territory, is set to receive widespread authority over West Bank settlement construction, in addition to serving as Israeli minister of finance.
Avi Maoz, head of a small religious, anti-LGBTQ faction, would be deputy minister of a to-be-created authority for Jewish identity. Maoz, who is openly hostile to the liberal streams of Judaism popular in the US, would also be in control of parts of the country’s national education system.
In the Nov. 1 election, Netanyahu and his allies captured a majority of 64 seats in the 120-member Israeli Knesset, and he vowed to quickly put together a coalition.
However, that process turned out to be more complicated than anticipated, in part because his Orthodox and far-right partners asked for guarantees on their powers.
Before the government is sworn in, Netanyahu is expected to try to push through a series of laws needed to expand Ben-Gvir’s authority over the police and to create a new ministerial position granting Smotrich powers in the West Bank that in the past were held by the Israeli minister of defense.
The legislature is expected to approve legislation to allow Aryeh Deri, a former Israeli minister of religious services who once served a prison sentence in a bribery case, to serve as again as minister while he is on probation for another conviction earlier this year on tax offenses.
Likud lawmakers have been competing for a shrinking collection of assignments after Netanyahu gave away many plumb jobs to his governing partners.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for alleged corruption, is eager to return to office after spending the past year and a half as opposition leader. He and his partners are expected to push through a series of laws shaking up the country’s judiciary, and potentially clearing Netanyahu of any charges.
Netanyahu is the country’s longest-serving prime minister, serving a total of 15 years before he was ousted last year.
He has said he is a victim of overzealous police, prosecutors and judges, but critics say the plans, including an expected proposal that would allow parliament to overturn Israeli Supreme Court decisions, would destroy the country’s democratic institutions and system of checks and balances.
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