Rivals in final dash to oust Netanyahu

JERUSALEM, Middle East－Israeli politicians battling to unseat veteran right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were locked in last-ditch talks on Wednesday to hammer out their "change" coalition composed of bitter ideological rivals.

They have until the end of the day－11:59 pm local time－to cobble together an administration that would end 12 straight years of rule by the hawkish heavyweight, Israel's longest-ruling premier.

The high-stakes push for a government is led by former television presenter Yair Lapid, a secular centrist who on Sunday won the crucial support of hardline religious nationalist Naftali Bennett.

"The coalition negotiation team sat all night and made progress toward creating a unity government," a spokesman for Bennett said.

But to reach a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, their unlikely alliance would also have to include other left and right-wing parties－and would probably need the support of Arab-Israeli politicians.

That would result in a government riven by deep ideological differences on flashpoint issues such as Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the role of religion in politics.

Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, was tasked with forming a government by then-president Reuven Rivlin after Netanyahu again failed to put together his own coalition following Israel's fourth inconclusive election in less than two years.

Lapid has reportedly agreed to allow Bennett, a tech multimillionaire who heads the Yamina party, to serve first as a rotating prime minister in a power-sharing agreement, before swapping with him halfway through their term.

Late on Tuesday, a source close to the talks said negotiators were hammering away to "finalize a deal as soon as possible".

Lawmakers on Wednesday voted in a secret ballot for one of two candidates to replace Rivlin and become their country's 11th president since the creation of Israel in 1948.

Isaac Herzog, a veteran politician and the scion of a prominent Israeli family, was elected president, a role that is meant to serve as the nation's moral compass and promote unity.

The president also has the power to grant pardons－creating a potentially sensitive situation as Netanyahu stands trial for a series of corruption charges.

Herzog, 60, is a former head of Israel's Labor Party and opposition leader who unsuccessfully ran against Netanyahu in the 2015 parliamentary elections.

Prominent family

He comes from a prominent Zionist family. His father, Chaim Herzog, was Israel's ambassador to the United Nations before being elected president. His uncle, Abba Eban, was Israel's first foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations and United States. His grandfather was the country's first chief rabbi.

Herzog defeated Miriam Peretz, 67, an educator who was seen as an outsider close to the dominant conservative and nationalist political camp.

Israel's latest political turmoil adds to the woes of Netanyahu, who is on trial for criminal charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust while in office－accusations he denies.

If he were to lose power, he would not be able to push through changes to basic laws that could give him immunity, and would lose control over certain justice ministry nominations.

The last-minute talks also follow a flare-up of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, which ended after 11 days of deadly violence with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire on May 21.

Agencies - Xinhua