Netanyahu forms new government

Deal for one-seat majority comes just before deadline

Jerusalem — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu completed the formation of a new coalition late Wednesday, putting him at the helm of a hard-line government that appears to be set on a collision course with the United States and other key allies.

Netanyahu reached a deal with the nationalist Jewish Home party shortly before a midnight deadline, clinching a slim parliamentary majority and averting an embarrassing scenario that would have forced him from office. But with a government dominated by hard-liners that support increased West Bank settlement construction and oppose peace moves with the Palestinians, he could have a hard time rallying international support. Controlling just 61 of 120 parliamentary seats, the fragile coalition also could struggle to press forward with a domestic agenda.

After Netanyahu’s Likud Party won March 17 elections with 30 seats, it seemed that he would have a relatively easy time forming a coalition and serving a fourth term as prime minister. But the six-week negotiating process, which expired at midnight, turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated as rival coalition partners and members of the Likud jockeyed for influential cabinet ministries.

“I am sure that nobody is surprised that the negotiations continued with all the factions and nobody is surprised it ended at the time it did,” Netanyahu said late Wednesday.

He vowed to install “a strong and stable government for the people of Israel” by next week, yet also hinted that he would court additional partners in the near future. “Sixty-one is a good number, and 61-plus is an even better number,” he said. “But it starts at 61 and we will begin. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

The coalition talks stalled this week when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a longtime partner of Netanyahu’s, unexpectedly stepped down and announced that his secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party was joining the opposition.

That left Netanyahu dependent on Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, a former aide who has a rocky relationship with him. With Bennett driving a hard bargain, the talks stretched throughout the day and well into the night before Netanyahu called President Reuven Rivlin, as required by law, to announce the deal.

Netanyahu had until midnight to speak to Rivlin. Otherwise, Rivlin would have been required to ask another politician to try to form a government.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog, head of the centrist Zionist Union, called the coalition “a national failure government” and “an embarrassing farce.”