Israeli opposition parties have settled on a coalition agreement to form a government and oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history.
Under the agreement, Naftali Bennett, a leader in the Yamina party, would assume the role of prime minister until 2023, when opposition leader Yair Lapid would take over until 2025.
Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, notified Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that he had managed to cobble together a coalition just 38 minutes before the midnight deadline.
In a statement, Lapid said the “government will work to serve all the citizens of Israel including those who aren’t members of it, will respect those who oppose it, and do everything in its power to unite all parts of Israeli society.”
The deal is a seismic event in recent Israeli political history as it could spell the final days of Netanyahu’s 12 years in office.
The new government consists of a number of parties from across the political spectrum, from the left-wing Meretz to Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party.
In a historic moment, the small Islamist party United Arab List also decided to join the coalition, the first time an Arab-Israeli party has joined a coalition. The party is unlikely to have a minister in the government, but will have negotiated with the coalition on issues important to them.
Not much unites the parties other than their desire to oust Netanyahu, and the parties differ in their stances on some of the country’s most pressing issues, especially relations with the Palestinians.
