JERUSALEM, Oct 12, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli lawmakers on Thursday endorsed an expanded “emergency government”, parliament said, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a war-time partnership with a rival.
Benny Gantz and four members of his party were sworn in as ministers without portfolio, in parliament shortly after the 66-4 vote.
Netanyahu, dressed in black, told parliament ahead of the vote that “the unity we are establishing sends a message of great force”, vowing to “destroy Hamas”.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, a former Gantz ally, said earlier on Thursday he would not join the government.
In a televised address, Lapid accused Israeli leaders of “unpardonable failure” for not preventing the brutal weekend attack by Hamas militants.
The fighting since Saturday between Israel and Gaza militants has killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and 1,350 in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
Netanyahu and Gantz announced in a joint statement Wednesday they had agreed to join forces for the duration of the fighting, and with a three-member “war cabinet” that would also include Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu’s extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies remain in government.
Under his agreement with Gantz, the premier has agreed to freeze the hardline government’s divisive judicial overhaul, which had triggered mass street protests — the biggest in the country’s history.
“During the war, no bills or government-sponsored motions that are unrelated to the war would be advanced,” the statement said.
Gantz last served in a Netanyahu administration in 2020-2021 under a rotation agreement that was meant to see him take the helm for the second half of the government’s tenure, but early elections had been called before he was to become prime minister.