A breath away from the expiry of the term of the mandate entrusted to him (24 in Israel), Benyamin Netanyahu informed President Isaac Herzog that he had succeeded in forming a government. This was reported on Twitter by Netanyahu himself who was appointed by Herzog 38 days ago following the election result of November 1st.
The government – completely right-wing – is made up of the Likud, the religious parties and the religious Zionists of Itamar ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotriche and Yoav Maoz and has 64 seats out of 120 in the Knesset. Netanyahu informed Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin as well as Herzog. According to the media, the protracted wait for the new government is due to an exhausting meeting with the party of Ben Gvir ‘Otzma Yehudit’. The swearing-in of the new government will take place by 2 January next.