In a classic case of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”, political parties of literally the left, right and centre of Israeli politics have come together last week to end the 12-year reign of Bibi Netanyahu as prime minister.
The only issue the new coalition in Israeli politics has in common is their desire to see the back of Netanyahu.
Israel has endured four national elections in two years. Apart from the first scheduled election, the other three have been about Netanyahu’s opponents gaining a bare majority to bring him undone.
An hour before the deadline for forming a government, before a fifth election would have been automatically triggered, an unlikely ragtag bunch of disparate parties came together.
It includes parties of the right led by Naftali Bennett, who will be the first prime minister for two years, Gideon Saar, who until recently was heir apparent to Netanyahu in the Likud Party, and Avigdor Lieberman.
Also joining the government is the centrist party of Yair Lapid, who will be prime minister for the second two years of the four-year term, if the government lasts that long.
The left is included too, represented by the once dominant Labour Party that is now a shadow of its former self and the even further left party, Meretz.
For the first time in the history of the modern Israeli state, an Arab party, Raam, led by Mansour Abbas, will join the government.
Read the article by Christoher Pyne in The Advertiser.