Netanyahu asks Israeli right to stop 'dangerous' coalition
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on lawmakers to oppose the broad-based governing coalition and accused his former aide, Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, of "selling out."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against his rivals and one-time allies on Thursday, calling on right-leaning lawmakers to oppose the “dangerous” coalition seeking to unseat him after 12 years in power.
Minutes before his mandate expired late Wednesday, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid called Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to inform him that he had succeeded in forming a governing coalition to replace Netanyahu. Under the 11th-hour rotation deal, right-wing Yamina leader Naftali Bennett will serve as prime minister until 2023 before Lapid takes over as premier for two more years.
“All legislators elected by votes from the right must oppose this dangerous left-wing government,” Netanyahu tweeted Thursday in his first public comments since his rivals announced they had reached a power-sharing agreement.
Netanyahu accused the ultranationalist Bennett of “selling out” to Raam, an Arab-majority party that joined forces with the Lapid-Bennett coalition. The eight-party coalition also includes a record number of female ministers.
