With a last-minute agreement the Prime Minister has cobbled together the future executive. The coalition (61 seats out of 120) will include Naftali Bennett, who is against the Palestinian state and favors settlements. The Palestinians slam it as a "government of war". Lieberman rules out support because "it is not nationalist enough ".

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a last-minute agreement to form the next coalition government. The agreement for the creation of a new executive, signed shortly before midnight, came seven weeks after the election victory of the Likud party, who beat the favorite, Zionist Isaac Herzog. To obtain the minimum 61 seats -  of the 120 total in the Knesset - to guarantee a majority in Parliament, the Prime Minister had to resort to the support of the far-right Bayit Yehudi party.

Commenting on the birth of the new government in Israel, the Palestinian leader Saeb Erakat spoke of a formation that is "against peace and stability in the region". For the member of the Executive Committee of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), it is "a government of war".

Netanyahu, who became Israeli prime minister in 1996, today begins a fourth term at the head of an executive.

Commenting on the agreement, he stated that "no one is surprised by the length of the negotiations", because "time is essential". The goal was to close on an agreement by the end of next week, to create a "strong and stable government."

Naftali Bennett, leader of the Bayit Yehudi, has asked for the Justice Department in exchange for support to the executive. A position that will allow him to radicalize certain sections of Israeli policy even more, including opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state. He is also a staunch supporter of the Jewish settlers and the settlement policy in the West Bank, and has forcefully supported annexing part of the occupied territories.

Moreover, already in recent weeks analysts and local political experts, interviewed by AsiaNews, had warned of a drift to the right of government in Israel that will make the possibility of peace with the Palestinians even more difficult. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s choice could put further pressure on the already strained relations with Europe and Washington.

The other parties which have joined to form the centrist government are Kulanu and two ultra-Orthodox movements, the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas. The government has a narrow majority (61),which is  why Prime Minister Netanyahu will seek to expand the fledgling coalition in the coming weeks. One party that that has already ruled out any collaboration is that of former ally and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who deems the new coalition "not sufficiently nationalistic."

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