Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last legal challenge to block the right-wing rivals’ proposal to lead the new government was rejected because his opponents raced to sign an agreement that would oust him .

Netanyahu’s former defense minister, Naftali Bennett, announced on Sunday that he would join a proposed alliance with the centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, according to the rotation The agreement first served as prime minister.

They must submit a final agreement to Rivlin by midnight on Wednesday (21:00 GMT). After Netanyahu failed to do so after the close election on March 23, Rivlin The task of forming a new government was entrusted to Rapide.

A source familiar with the talks said that in order to meet the deadline, Rapide, Bennett and other party leaders convened a meeting to reach an alliance agreement.

In a letter to the president and parliament’s legal counsel, Netanyahu’s conservative Likud group stated that Rapide has no right to cede the position of prime minister to Bennett.

But President Ruben Rivlin’s office responded that the Likud’s claims have no legal basis, because Rapide will be sworn in as “Deputy Prime Minister” as part of the rotation, the second prime minister.

It accepted the Likud argument that Rapide must provide the president with all the details of the new government, not just announcing that he has reached an alliance agreement.

Lapid-Bennett’s power sharing may include other right-wing politicians as well as liberal and center-left parties. The Israeli media speculated that it could also win the support of the parliament, and that the party would get votes from a minority of Palestinian citizens in Israel.

This prompted Netanyahu to accuse Bennett of endangering Israel because it is fighting internal conflicts and because the Palestinians protested against Israel’s attempts to expel them from their homes and restrict their access to the holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. The peace process, and Iran.

Country split

The 71-year-old Netanyahu is the main political figure of his generation. He was elected prime minister for the first time in 1996 and returned to power in 2009, holding the highest office for more than a decade. But he also faces corruption trials for bribery, fraud and breach of trust-he denies these allegations.

A digitally modified photo of Bennett in a Palestinian headscarf circulated on social media, prompting people to compare it with an attempt to discredit former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was created by an opponent in 1995 Peaceful ultra-nationalists assassinated.

An Israeli security source said that Bennett accepted the parliamentary bodyguard on the recommendation of Sinbet’s domestic intelligence agency because of the “inciting atmosphere” against him.

Rapid and Bennett have stated that they hope to bring together Israelis who cross political differences and end hateful political rhetoric.

“A divided and violent country will not be able to deal with Iran or the economy. A leadership that incites us to confront each other undermines our ability to deal with the challenges we face,” Rapide said.