Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu announced late Wednesday that he has successfully formed a new coalition, setting the stage for him to return to power as head of the most right-wing Israeli government ever to hold office.
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Netanyahu made the announcement in a phone call to President Isaac Herzog moments before a midnight deadline. His Likud party released a brief video clip of the smiling Netanyahu and a recording of the conversation.
"I wanted to announce to you that thanks to the amazing public support we received in the elections, I have succeeded in forming a government that will take care of all the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu said.
The move came after weeks of surprisingly difficult negotiations with his partners – who still have need to finalize their power-sharing deals with Likud. Nonetheless, Netanyahu said he intends to complete the process "as soon as possible next week." A date for its swearing-in wasn't immediately announced.
Netanyahu has already reached preliminary agreements with several bloc leaders.
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir has been appointed national security minister, a new position that will place him in charge of the national police force. Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich is set to receive widespread authority over Judea and Samaria settlement construction, in addition to serving as finance minister for two years as part of a rotation agreement with leader of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox Shas faction Aryeh Deri.
Another ally, Avi Maoz, head of a small, religious, anti-LGBTQ faction, has been placed in control of parts of the country's national education system. Maoz, who is openly hostile to the liberal streams of Judaism popular in the US, also has been appointed a deputy minister in charge of "Jewish identity."
In the Nov. 1 election, Netanyahu and his allies captured a majority of 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset, and he vowed to quickly put together a coalition. But that process turned out to be more complicated than anticipated, in part because his ultra-Orthodox and far-right partners demanded firm guarantees on the scope of their powers.
Before the government is sworn in, Netanyahu will try to push through a series of laws needed to expand Ben-Gvir's authority over the police and to create a new ministerial position granting Smotrich powers in Judea and Samaria that in the past were held by the defense minister.
The parliament will also try to approve legislation to Deri, a veteran politician who once served a prison due to tax fraud, to serve as a government minister while on probation for another conviction earlier this year on tax offenses.
The ultra-Orthodox, meanwhile, are seeking increases in subsidies for their education system.
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Likud lawmakers have been competing for a shrinking collection of assignments after Netanyahu gave away many plumb jobs to his governing partners.
Netanyahu, who himself is on trial for alleged corruption, is eager to return to office after spending the past year and a half as opposition leader. He and his partners are expected to push through a series of laws shaking up the country's judiciary and potentially clearing Netanyahu of any charges.
The US and European Union have both said they will judge the new government by its policies, not its personalities. Yohanan Plesner, a former Knesset member who is now president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, said he expects to see a stable coalition take power in the coming days.
"It's in the interest of all members of the new coalition to form this government," he said. "All of them have a lot to gain and much to lose if it's not formed."
