Knesset to vote on new government on Sunday

Parliament speaker Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu ally, announced the timing of the vote on Tuesday, a day after acknowledging that a coalition had been formed.

By Associated Press

Israel’s parliament speaker has scheduled a vote for Sunday on a new government that would end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year rule, the longest in the country’s history.

Parliament speaker Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu ally, announced the timing of the vote on Tuesday, a day after acknowledging that a coalition had been formed.

The fragile coalition consists of eight parties spanning Israel’s political spectrum, with only a narrow majority in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament. But it appears to have held together despite a campaign by Netanyahu’s supporters that has protests outside lawmakers’ homes.

Netanyahu has accused his erstwhile right-wing allies of betrayal for allying with leftists and a small radical Islamist party.

Naftali Bennett, a former Netanyahu ally, would serve as prime minister for two years, followed by the center-left Yair Lapid.

Israel held four elections in less than two years, the most recent in March.

An emergency government formed last year to address the coronavirus pandemic was mired in political infighting and collapsed in December. Netanyahu tried and failed to form a government after the March elections before the mandate was given to Lapid.

The political transition, which could yet be derailed, comes amid heightened tensions following weeks of clashes between violent Palestinian rioters and Israeli police in Jerusalem. Arabs launched a wave of ethnic violence in Israeli cities while Palestinian terrorists set of an 11-day war from Gaza, launching over 4,000 rockets at Israel.