Netanyahu says he has succeeded in forming coalition govt

Jerusalem, Dec 22 Israel's Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he has succeeded in forming a new coalition government.

"I have managed (to form a government)," he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening, minutes before a midnight deadline.

In a separate statement, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party said that the veteran leader called President Isaac Herzog and informed him that he has successfully formed a new government, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Likud has yet to sign final coalition agreements with four of its five partners three extreme-right parties and two Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties. The new government needs to be sworn in by January 2, 2023, according to Israeli law.

Netanyahu has struggled for the past weeks to satisfy the demands of his coalition partners in exchange for their support.

The announcement marks the return to power of Israel's longest-serving leader, who was ousted only a year-and-a-half ago.

Netanyahu's bloc won 64 of the Israeli parliament's 120 seats in the country's fifth elections in less than four years, which were held on November 1.

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