Israel’s Lapid Faces Daunting Path to Anti-Netanyahu Govt

Israel’s Lapid Faces Daunting Path to Anti-Netanyahu Govt

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has been given the chance to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's record 12 straight years in office but to do so he must bring together the most unlikely of bedfellows - AFP

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who has been given 28 days to form a government, has said his goal is to forge a coalition that ends Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's divisive rule.

But doing so will require walking a tightrope unrivaled in Israeli political history.

Lapid will have to build a coalition united primarily by opposition to Netanyahu from disparate groups ranging from right-wing Jewish nationalists to Arab lawmakers who have never before sat in an Israeli government.

And, in an unprecedented twist, the centrist former television anchor will probably have to sacrifice his own prime ministerial ambitions at least in the short term.

Israel's fourth inconclusive election in less than two years produced a fractured parliament, AFP reported.

Lapid can likely count on the support of centrist and left-wing lawmakers as well as two right-wing parties firmly committed to removing Netanyahu.

The New Hope party is made up of defectors from Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, while Yisrael Beitenu is backed by many immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Barring defections,