Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu secures a deal to form new government

Tel Aviv: Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said that he has secured a deal to form a new government after weeks of tough negotiations with far-right coalition partners. Mr. Netanyahu informed President Isaac Herzog last night in a phone call that he has managed to form a government. Minutes before a midnight deadline to form a coalition set by the Israel President, Mr. Netanyahu announced through Twitter that he was able to establish a government that will work for the benefit of all Israeli citizens.

Netanyahu’s conservative Likud and like-minded religious-nationalist parties won a comfortable majority in a November 1 election,



promising him 64 of Parliaments’s 120 seats. But agreement to form a government was held up by disputes over 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.

Mr. Netanayhu has pledged to govern in the interest of all citizens in Israel. The veteran leader, who returns after serving a record 15 years in top office, is on trial for corruption charges he denies.