Online Desk :
Israeli opposition parties have reached an agreement to form a new government that would end Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure as prime minister.
Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, announced an eight-faction coalition had been formed.
Under a rotation arrangement, the head of the right-wing Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, would serve as prime minister first before handing over to Mr Lapid.
There still needs to be a parliamentary vote before the government is sworn in.
In a statement, Mr Lapid said he had informed President Reuven Rivlin of the agreement, adding: “I pledge that this government will work in the service of all Israeli citizens, those who voted for it and those who did not.
“It will respect its opponents and do everything in its power to unite and connect all parts of Israeli society.”
An image carried on Israeli media showed Mr Lapid, Mr Bennett and Arab Islamist Raam party leader, Mansour Abbas, signing the agreement, a deal many thought impossible.
This is the first time in decades an Arab-Israeli party has joined government.
Lapid, a former TV presenter and a secular centrist, won the crucial support of hardline religious-nationalist Naftali Bennett, a technology multi-millionaire who has held a number of government portfolios including the defence ministry, on Sunday.
Under the coalition agreement, Bennett and Lapid would rotate the role of prime minister, with Bennett taking up the post for the first two years and Lapid the final two.
Netanyahu’s Likud won the most seats in the March 23 election but he was unable to form a majority with his natural allies. Crucially, Bennett’s far-right party – allied with Netanyahu – refused to join forces with the United Arab List, a party that emerged as a kingmaker of sorts.
