Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu finalized coalition deals with allied parties, their spokespeople said on Wednesday, in final steps toward his political comeback. The swearing-in is set for Thursday, when Netanyahu will be officially inaugurated as prime minister some six weeks after the Nov. 1 election in which his Likud-led right-Haredim bloc won a majority in the Knesset.
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But even before starting his record sixth term in office, Netanyahu has sought to quell fears at home and abroad his emerging government will endanger minority rights, harm the judiciary, and exacerbate the conflict with the Palestinians.
The coalition deals with the pro-settler Religious Zionist Party and ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism have yet to be formally published, but leaked clauses, recent legislation, and statements by future coalition members over the past few weeks have drawn wide criticism.
Legislation ratified on Tuesday will ultimately enable the Religious Zionist Party to get a post of second minister within the Defense Ministry, granting it broad authority over administrative matters in Judea and Samaria.
Further legislation to be brought to a vote on Wednesday, will grant new powers over the police for Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-Right Otzma Yehudit, as national security minister.
Prospective coalition members' pledges to curb Supreme Court powers, anti-gay statements, and calls to allow a business to refuse services to people based on religious grounds, have alarmed liberal Israelis as well as Western allies.
In statements and interviews abroad, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that he will safeguard civil rights, will not allow any harm to the country's Arab minority or to the LGBTQ community and pursue peace.
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