Lapid Announces Formation of New Israeli Government

Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, announced Wednesday that he had succeeded in forming a new national unity government, more than two years after the first of four parliamentary elections led to an extended deadlock in Israeli politics.

Lapid informed President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday night, an hour before his mandate expired, that he had succeeded in forming a government and that Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett would serve as prime minister first.

“I commit to you, Mr. President, that this government will work to serve all the citizens of Israel including those who aren’t members of it, will respect those who oppose it, and do everything in its power to unite all parts of Israeli society,” Lapid said in the message sent to Rivlin.

According to the reported terms of the coalition agreement, Lapid will serve as foreign minister and alternate prime minister for two years, after which he will become prime minister. In the second half of the government’s term, Bennett will serve as interior minister and New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar will become foreign minister.

The government comprises a coalition of parties from the center, right, and left, including Yesh Atid, Blue and White, Labor, Yamina, Yisrael Beitenu, Meretz, New Hope, and for the first time in Israel’s history, a predominantly Arab party, the Ra’am-United Arab List.