Benjamin Netanyahu, Benny Gantz to form Israel unity government next week

Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a coalition deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival-turned-ally Benny Gantz, paving the way for a unity government to be sworn in next week.

Last month, the alliance formed between the right-wing incumbent and his centrist challenger followed three inconclusive elections in less than a year.

Under the three-year deal, Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for 18 months, with Gantz as his alternate, a new position in Israeli governance.

The deal was signed on April 20 after neither party succeeded in forming a governing coalition in the country’s deeply divided 120-member parliament.

They will swap roles midway through the deal, with cabinet positions split between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Gantz’s Blue and White alliance, as well as their respective allies.

Israel has been without a stable government since December 2018 and the deal offers rare political stability as the country seeks to repair the economic damage wrought by the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 16,000 people in the country.

But the Supreme court ruled that “there was no legal reason to prevent the formation of a government” led by Netanyahu.

As the decision was delivered, Likud and Blue and White said in a joint statement that the new government would be sworn in on May 13.

Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu and Gantz met but could not come up with an agreed candidate to lead the health ministry as well as several other issues.

On Saturday evening, hundreds of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv against the unity government, the latest in a string of dozens of rallies against a government in which Netanyahu serves as the Prime Minister.