Opponents of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s are pushing for a quick vote to end his record-setting rule. Israel's longest-serving premier, meanwhile, is expected to do everything possible to survive.
The new phase of maneuvering came just hours after opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett declared they had assembled a majority of the 120-member Knesset to form a new government and push Netanyahu into the opposition.
That triggered a complex process that requires a vote of the Knesset, likely next week.
The timetable gives Netanyahu time to try to pressure coalition members into quitting the group. Netanyahu and his allies were meeting Thursday.
