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Tel Aviv, Thursday

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at a newly agreed coalition which looks set to remove him from power after 12 years as Prime Minister.

Netanyahu called on right-wing members of parliament to block the coalition from taking office.

Eight opposition parties reached an agreement to work together to form a new government late on Wednesday.

But the group, from across Israel’s political spectrum, still needs parliamentary backing to take office. No date has so far been set for such a vote in the Knesset (parliament).

But it is expected to take place next week at the latest, and there is still a chance this newly formed coalition could be upended by defections.

In his first comments since the coalition was announced, Netanyahu urged members of the Knesset “elected by votes from the right” to oppose the coalition.

In a post on Twitter, he criticised them as “left-wing” and “dangerous”. He has previously called the proposed new government the “fraud of the century”, saying it endangered the state and people of Israel.

Own coalition

Observers have already noted that Netanyahu – who failed to form his own coalition despite his Likud party winning the most seats in the March vote – is likely to try to prevent the group getting the support it needs.

News of a fresh coalition emerged late on Wednesday, when Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, called President Reuven Rivlin to let him know that agreement had been reached.

He pledged to form a government which would “work in the service of all Israeli citizens… respect its opponents and do everything in its power to unite and connect all parts of Israeli society”.

However, Lapid will not become prime minister immediately. Under a rotation arrangement, the head of the right-wing Yamina party, Naftali Bennett, would serve as prime minister first before handing over to Lapid in August 2023.

The coalition members span the full spectrum of Israeli politics with little in common apart from their plan to replace Netanyahu.

For the first time in decades, the government will include an Israeli Arab party.

Signing agreement

An image carried on Israeli media showed Lapid, Bennett and Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab Islamist Raam party, signing the agreement, a deal many thought impossible.

If the coalition fails to win the support of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, there is a risk of a fifth election in two years. All eight parties were needed to secure the 61-seat majority.

The historic deal also includes the small United Arab List, which would make it the first party of Palestinian citizens of Israel ever to be part of a governing coalition in Israel.

United Arab List’s leader Mansour Abbas, 47, has cast aside differences with prime minister-hopeful Bennett, an advocate of annexing most of the occupied West Bank.

A dentist by profession, Abbas said he hopes to improve conditions for Arab citizens who complain of discrimination and government neglect. – BBC