‘Eternal’ Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Could Replace | Abroad

Opposition leader Yair Lapid received backing on Sunday from Naftali Bennett, a 49-year-old minister and former member of the Netanyahu party. Bennett heads a right-wing party league and Lapid heads the center Yesh Atid (Future Party) party. Lapid has already won the support of center-left parties.

Bennett and Lapid would alternate the post of prime minister. Prime Minister Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party has long served as prime minister and has formed a series of coalitions, including with highly Orthodox Jewish parties. He was Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and has been since 2009. No Israeli Prime Minister has been at the helm for so long.

Israel has held four elections in the past two years and Israelis are legally bound to return to the polls if no governing coalition is formed by Thursday. The last ballot took place on March 23. Lapid’s Future Reform Party then became the second largest party in the country. But in the fragmented politics that represents only seventeen of the 120 seats in parliament.

But Lapid has already made deals with the Labor Party, the left-wing liberal Meretz and the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu (Israel our home). He hopes to keep a minority government afloat with the support of a range of parties. He also thinks that the ten Arab parliamentarians would be ready to provide support under certain conditions. According to Israeli media, a coalition deal would be ready on Monday and Israel can then proceed with a new fragile coalition before the deadline (11 p.m. Dutch time Wednesday).