Israel's parliament swore in a new unity government on Sunday led by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his former rival Benny Gantz, ending the longest political crisis in the nation's history.
After more than 500 days without a stable government and three inconclusive elections, lawmakers in the 120-seat parliament approved a three-year coalition, with 73 voting for and 46 against. One member was absent.
The new government was set to confront serious crises in its first weeks, including the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus and a looming battle over Israel's possible annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank.
Addressing the parliament, or Knesset, before the vote, Netanyahu said his incoming government should apply Israeli sovereignty over Jewish West Bank settlements. "It's time to apply the Israeli law and write another glorious chapter in the history of Zionism," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu told the chamber that annexation "won't distance us from peace, it will bring us closer".
The coalition government was agreed last month between veteran right-wing leader Netanyahu and the centrist Gantz, a former army chief. Plans had been set for an inauguration last Thursday, but Netanyahu asked for three more days to decide on cabinet assignments among his Likud party loyalists.
Under the coalition deal, Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for the coming 18 months - a major victory for a leader due to stand trial in a week on corruption charges, which he denies. Gantz will be alternate prime minister, a new position in Israeli governance, for the first half of the deal. He and Netanyahu will swap roles on November 17, 2021.
The Netanyahu-Gantz deal says the government can from July 1 initiate moves to implement US President Donald Trump's controversial peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The plan, rejected by the Palestinians, gives the green light from Washington for Israel to annex Jewish settlements and other territory in the West Bank.
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