Netanyahu forms new coalition Israeli govt

JERUSALEM — Israel's Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he had secured a deal to form a new government after weeks of unexpectedly tough negotiations with coalition partners.

"I have managed (to form a government)," Netanyahu said on Twitter, minutes before a midnight deadline set by President Isaac Herzog. A Herzog spokesperson confirmed that Netanyahu's statement had been received.

Netanyahu's conservative Likud and like-minded parties won a comfortable majority in an election on Nov 1, promising him 64 of parliament's 120 seats.

But the agreement to form a government was held up by disputes over a package of proposed legislation on issues ranging from planning authority in the West Bank to ministerial control over the police.

The new government, which Netanyahu must now present within a week, will take office after a year that has seen the worst levels of violence in the West Bank in more than a decade, with more than 150 Palestinians and more than 20 Israelis killed.

A stable government would be a departure from a turbulent period in which Israelis went to the polls five times in less than four years. But the weeks of wrangling have made clear that the coalition may still face significant internal tensions.

Netanyahu has already reached agreements with some of the figures in Israeli politics.

Its makeup as well as proposals that would give parliament greater powers to overrule court decisions have also caused alarm in Israel and abroad. Critics see a threat to the independence of the justice system.

The inclusion of Itamar Ben-Gvir of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party and Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party has shocked Palestinians and liberal Israelis.

Both oppose Palestinian statehood and support extending Israeli sovereignty into the West Bank, adding another obstacle to a two-state solution.

Ben-Gvir will serve as security minister, with authority over police, while Smotrich's pro-settler party will have control over planning in the West Bank.

Netanyahu has said he will ultimately set Israeli policy and has pledged to govern in the interest of all citizens in Israel.

The announcement marks the return to power of Israel's longest-serving leader, who was ousted only a year and a half ago.

Agencies - Xinhua