Netanyahu’s Job in Jeopardy as Rivals Move Closer to Form Unity Government

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The head of a small hard-line party on Sunday said he would try to form a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents, taking a major step toward ending the 12-year rule of the Israeli leader.

In a nationwide address, Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett said he had decided to join forces with the country’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid.

The pair have until Wednesday to complete a deal in which they are expected to each serve two years as prime minister in a rotation deal.

“It’s my intention to do my utmost in order to form a national unity government along with my friend Yair Lapid, so that, God willing, together we can save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course,” Bennett said.

A unity government would end the cycle of deadlock that has plunged the country into four inconclusive elections over the past two years.

It also would end, at least for the time being, the record-setting tenure of Netanyahu, the most dominant figure in Israeli politics over the past three decades.

Bennett, a former Netanyahu aide turned rival, said he was taking the dramatic step to prevent yet another election.

While sharing Netanyahu’s nationalist ideology, Bennett said there was no feasible way for the hard-line right wing to form a governing majority in parliament.

“A government like this will succeed only if we work together as a group,” he said.

In order to form a government, a party leader must secure the support of a 61-seat majority in parliament.

Because no single party controls a majority on its own, coalitions are usually built with smaller partners.

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