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'King Bibi' holds on to Israel's throne

March 16, 2013 16:30
Israel's rightwing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Saturday informed President Shimon Peres of having formed a new government, is a figure of both admiration and loathing at home and abroad. A May 2012 cover of Time magazine hailed him as "King Bibi," using his nickname, but former French president Nicolas Sarkozy branded him a "liar" in a private conversation with US President Barack Obama. The hawkish Netanyahu will now begin a third term as prime minister, following an initial 1996-1999 tenure that made him the youngest ever to hold the post in the Jewish state.

Israel's Netanyahu tells Peres government formed

March 16, 2013 15:30
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu formally notified President Shimon Peres on Saturday that after 40 days of tortuous negotiations with potential coalition partners he had formed a new government. "As you know I was able to form a government," Peres's office quoted premier Netanyahu as saying at a meeting in Jerusalem. "You gave me the task and I carried it out." Netanyahu had a legal deadline of Saturday evening to form a government or admit defeat. Completion of the new line-up comes just days before a milestone visit by US President Barack Obama to Israel.

Israel's Netanyahu to tell Peres he has formed new govt

March 16, 2013 05:45
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to inform President Shimon Peres later on Saturday that after 40 days of negotiations with coalition partners he has finally formed a new government. Eleventh-hour agreements were signed on Friday with the centrist Yesh Atid and far-right Jewish Home parties, which held the key to building a government with a majority in the 120-seat parliament. Netanyahu is expected to meet Peres after the end of the Jewish Sabbath at sunset but the exact time has yet to be confirmed.

Israel's Netanyahu to tell Peres he has formed new govt

March 16, 2013 05:01
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to inform President Shimon Peres later on Saturday that after 40 days of negotiations with coalition partners he has finally formed a new government. Eleventh-hour agreements were signed on Friday with the centrist Yesh Atid and far-right Jewish Home parties, which held the key to building a government with a majority in the 120-seat parliament. Netanyahu is expected to meet Peres after the end of the Jewish Sabbath at sunset but the exact time has yet to be confirmed.

Netanyahu seals govt deal ahead of deadline, Obama

March 15, 2013 15:45
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed deals with key coalition partners on Friday, forming a new government just before a deadline and a milestone visit by US President Barack Obama. The alliance of Netanyahu's Likud party and former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu had been locked in intense negotiations for 40 days with the centrist Yesh Atid and far-right Jewish Home parties, which held the key to building a government with a majority in the 120-seat parliament.

Analysis - Obama won't trip over Netanyahu's Iran "red line"

March 15, 2013 02:30
By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama visits Israel next week at the onset of spring - the "red line" previously drawn by his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to trigger an attack on Iran's nuclear sites. But an Israeli-Iranian war, Washington's nightmare as it tries to scale back defence commitments abroad and avoid a draining Gulf oil crisis, does not appear trip-wire imminent.

Israel poised to ink govt deal ahead of Obama visit

March 14, 2013 17:01
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was working to ink a long-awaited coalition deal on Thursday that would see a new government sworn in just days before a visit by US President Barack Obama. But a last-minute dispute over who would serve as Netanyahu's deputies threw a spanner in the works, delaying an agreement which had been due to be signed earlier in the day, press reports said. Netanyahu has been under huge pressure to present a line-up with a working majority of at least 61 MPs within the 120-seat Knesset (parliament) before a March 16 deadline.

Israel PM hands centrists ultimatum as govt crisis looms

March 14, 2013 14:31
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday pledged to turn to the ultra-Orthodox parties to form a coalition if the centrist Yesh Atid refused to back down from its "exaggerated demands." The Israeli leader has been holding intensive coalition talks ahead of a looming March 16 deadline to announce the shape of his new government. If he fails to piece together a working majority of at least 61 MPs, the task will be given to another party leader.

Israel poised to unveil new govt ahead of Obama visit

March 14, 2013 11:15
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to formally unveil his long-awaited coalition government on Thursday that will be sworn in just days before a visit by US President Barack Obama. After nearly 40 days of intensive negotiations with potential partners, Netanyahu was expected to announce a deal between his Likud-Beitenu alliance, the centrist Yesh Atid and the far-right Jewish Home. He has already signed an agreement with the small centrist HaTnuah party.

Israel's Netanyahu sapped by tough coalition talks

March 14, 2013 11:01
Negotiations in Israel to form a coalition government have further weakened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who stopped just short of abandoning his core principles to appease new partners, analysts say. During nearly six weeks of talks, Netanyahu was forced to make a number of concessions to Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party which won 19 seats in the January election, and Naftali Bennett, head of the far-right nationalist-religious Jewish Home, whose party took 12.
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