Netanyahu forms a coalition government with the religious right

Israel finally has a new government, but critics have branded Netanyahu 'a general without soldiers'

Naftali Bennett and Benjamin Netanyahu
(Image credit: Getty)

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has formed an eleventh-hour coalition government with smaller right-leaning religious parties. The announcement came almost two months after his Likud Party won the election, and an hour before the midnight deadline to form a new government expired.

Despite marathon negotiations, Netanyahu only managed to secure the slimmest possible majority of one seat in the 120-member parliament. Even before Wednesday night's deal he had been branded "a general without soldiers", by the Israeli Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv.

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