Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is set to be sworn in on Thursday night, capping more than a year of political deadlock in Israel, with three back-to-back election cycles.
Netanyahu on Wednesday formally informed President Reuven Rivlin and Knesset Speaker Benny Gantz that he had succeeded in forming a government, which would have 36 ministers and 16 deputy ministers, making it the biggest in Israel’s history.
The government’s swearing-in will only happen after a new Knesset speaker is elected by lawmakers, 48 hours after Gantz resigned from the position.
A handful of ministers may be sworn in at a later date, as some coalition agreements were only inked late on Wednesday or on Thursday, but no final decision has been made on these cases, affecting specifically Habayit Hayehudi’s Rafi Peretz and Gesher’s Orli-Levi Abekasis.
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According to its policy guidelines, the government will form a national reconciliation cabinet and “will act to bridge the chasms of Israeli society.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Netanyahu and his coalition partners haven’t completed talks on ministerial appointments, some of which would only apply to the first half the government’s term, before Gantz is set to take over as prime minister in a year and a half.
Read more: haaretz
