Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who also heads the Likud Party, has reached an agreement with Shaul Mofaz, head of the Kadima opposition party, to form a new national unity government.The move is intended to avoid the early election that according to news yesterday was likely to have been held in September.
The agreement came only one day after the Ministerial Committee in charge of legislation approved a bill to dissolve the Knesset and hold early elections on September 4th.
Israeli Radio reported that, under this agreement, Mofaz will become the deputy prime-minister and a minister without portfolio in the new government.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Mofaz will also become a member of the “security cabinet”, while Kadima officials will be heading the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee, the Defense Committee, the Economics Committee, and another committee to be agreed by Kadima and Likud.
As part of the new agreement the Israeli government intends to support a proposal presented by Kadima calling for replacing the “Tal Law” which allows young religious ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis to avoid serving in the military.
