Ifølge BBCs korrespondent er den nye regering “langt mere verdslig end vi har set i mange år” – den ventes bl.a. at tage initiativ til at ultra-ortodokse jøder også skal gøre militærtjeneste – tidl. TV-stjerne bliver finansminister.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal to form a coalition government between his Likud-Yisrael Beitenu party and the centrist Yesh Atid and Hatnua and the far-right Jewish Home, writes BBC online Thursday.
Mr Netanyahu was forced to give up his alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties: Shas and United Torah Judaism.
It took five weeks to reach deals with his new partners after the general election on 22 January.
Apart from the prime minister, there will be 21 ministers, making it the smallest government in decades, Israeli media report.
In the new cabinet, it is believed Yair Lapid from Yesh Atid – a former TV presenter – will be finance minister and Naftali Bennett, a high-tech millionaire, will be economic and trade minister.
Yesh Atid took 19 seats and Jewish Home, led by Mr. Bennett, finished in fourth place with 12.
The two men formed a pact in coalition talks and got commitments to a new draft law that will compel more ultra-Orthodox men to perform national military service or other civilian duties.
Many secular (ikke-religiøse) Israelis object to the exemptions from army service given to students at religious seminaries or yeshivas and the large state subsidies that their institutions receive.
Adding to the time pressure is a visit by the United States President Barack Obama scheduled to begin on 20 March. It will be his first trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan since being elected president in 2008.
