NETANYAHU FACES OUSTER AS ISRAEL COALITION READY WITH ALTERNATIVE

Israel’s Lapid-Bennett alliance seeks quick vote in parliament, fearing Netanyahu may spark defections

TEL AVIV: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents pushed Thursday for a quick parliament vote to formally end his lengthy rule, hoping to head off any last-minute attempts to derail their newly announced coalition government.

The latest political maneuvering began just hours after opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, declared they had reached a deal to form a new government and muster a majority in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.

Netanyahu lashed out at his foes. “All members of Knesset who were elected with right-wing votes need to oppose this dangerous leftist government,” he said.

JERUSALEM: Israelis were staring at the end of an era on Thursday after an alliance of parties from across the political spectrum agreed to form a government to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid announced the deal minutes before a Wednesday midnight deadline, prompting celebrations into the early hours by the PM’s opponents.

On paper, the coalition commands a slender majority in parliament, but a confidence vote is not expected for several days, giving Netanyahu time to woo potential defectors among the unlikely bedfellows.

With the threat of possible jail time hanging over him in his ongoing trial on corruption charges, the 71-year-old is unlikely to allow his record 12 straight years to end without a messy fight, analysts warned.

On Thursday, he was already tweeting, seeking to play on any last-minute misgivings among right-wing lawmakers about allying with the left. On Twitter, Netanyahu’s Likud Party called on former rightwing allies to “immediately withdraw” their signatures.

The new coalition would see the religious nationalist Naftali Bennett serve as PM for two years before Lapid, a secular centrist, would take the helm.

Should last-minute defections scupper the “change” alliance, Israel would likely have to hold yet another election, the fifth in just over two years.

“Opening the champagne right now is a bit hasty,” said Tamar Hermann, a political scientist at the Israel Democracy Institute.

For the first time in Israeli’s history, the embryonic coalition also includes an Arab Israeli party, the Islamic conservative Ra’am, also known as United Arab List.