The opposition agreed; Netanyahu without a new mandate due to a man from the Balkans

The opposition agreed; Netanyahu without a new mandate due to a man from the Balkans

Leaders of the far-right Yamina and centrist Yesh Atid, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, and Ra''am (United Arab List) chairman Mansour Abbas have reached an agreement on a unity government whose deadline was midnight local time.

In a statement on Twitter, Lapid said that he informed the president of the country about the agreement.

"This government will work for all the citizens of Israel, those who voted for it and those who did not. It will do everything to unite the Israeli society," the leader of the party Yesh Atid said, Reuters reports.

Lapid, who has been the leader of the opposition so far, should have had the support of the majority, i.e. 120 deputies in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. His coalition will also include Yamina's extreme right-wing party. Namely, the leader of Yamina, Naftali Bennett and Lapid, agreed to rotate as prime minister, so the prime minister will be Bennett for the first two years, and then Lapid will replace him in that position.

Until then, Lapid will perform the duty of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Israel thus got a new government tonight which, after 12 years, will not be led by Benjamin Netanyahu. This irritated the prime minister, known by the nickname Bibi. Because, by losing the leading political position, he will not be able to change the law in order to gain immunity, so he will lose control over certain appointments within the Ministry of Justice.

He is on trial for criminal charges of embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power, which he denies.

Deadline until midnight

The deadline for announcing the agreement was midnight, and the Israeli daily "Haaretz" announced at 22:54 that the agreement had been reached and that Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid had reached an agreement on forming a government.

It should be reminded that after the fourth elections in two years, Netanyahu failed to form a government.

President Reuven Rivlin then gave a mandate to Yair Lapid, the leader of the second strongest party in the Knesset.

Israel cannot do without the Balkans - Lapid originally from Novi Sad

Yair Lapid is proof that Israel cannot do without the Balkans.

His father was born in Novi Sad as Tomislav Lampel, who was rescued by the famous Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg. He disappeared after the war. Lampel's mother and son moved to Israel in 1948, where he became Josef Lapid, a journalist and justice minister in Ariel Sharon's government after the 2003 elections.

Yair also started his career as a journalist in the print media, and then he switched to television and became one of the most desirable men in the country. He entered politics in 2012 and after the elections he entered into a coalition with Netanyahu as Minister of Finance. During his two-year term, he came into conflict with the Orthodox community because he questioned their spending of public money.

He is in opposition after the conflict with Netanyahu.