Knesset

Holding an Israeli flag, key anti-reform protest organizer Shikma Bressler led tens of thousands of demonstrators outside the Knesset, chanting: "We will not give up!", The Times of Israel reported.
Bressler was arrested at protests last week and later released.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to back down on Wednesday, saying his government has no intention of returning to four abandoned settlements in the occupied West Bank under a law that was repealed by parliament this week.

Israel's parliament voted Thursday to dissolve itself, triggering the country's fifth election in just over three years and thrusting veteran politician Yair Lapid into the role of interim prime minister as he tries to persuade a deeply polarized nation to embrace his centrist vision.

A coalition of ideologically divergent parties ousted on Sunday the hawk Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, and formed a new government in a seismic shift in the country's turbulent politics.

A motley alliance of Israeli parties on June 13 ended Benjamin Netanyahu's 12 straight years as prime minister, as parliament voted in a new government led by his former ally, right-wing Jewish nationalist Naftali Bennett.

Israel is set to swear in a new government on June 13 that will send Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the opposition after a record 12 years in office and a political crisis that sparked four elections in two years.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents announced on June 2 that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader.

Leaders of the far-right Yamina and centrist Yesh Atid, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, and Ra''am (United Arab List) chairman Mansour Abbas have reached an agreement on a unity government whose deadline was midnight local time.
In a statement on Twitter, Lapid said that he informed the president of the country about the agreement.

Israeli opposition parties have reached an agreement to form a new government that would end Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year tenure as prime minister.

Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, announced an eight-faction coalition had been formed.

Israelis were voting on March 23 in their fourth election in less than two years, with the nation still divided over whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deserves to remain in power.

Israel's longest-serving premier, and still its most popular politician, has for several years proved unable to unite a stable governing majority behind him.