On paper, the prospective coalition commands a slender majority in parliament but a confidence vote is not expected for several days, giving Netanyahu time to woo potential defectors among the unlikely bedfellows ranged against him.
Lapid's announcement late Wednesday came in the final hour before a midnight deadline, following marathon negotiations with a group of parties spanning the political spectrum, united only in their desire to oust Netanyahu.
Lawmakers opposed to right-wing Netanyahu have been in intense talks ahead of a Wednesday deadline, as a ceasefire held following the latest deadly military conflict with Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
While an international diplomatic push aims to end the worst bloodshed in years, Netanyahu issued another tough threat against the armed group that has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since 10 May.
The Israeli president met with party leaders Wednesday to determine if any lawmaker can form a government to end an unprecedented gridlock after veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, was given a 28-day window to forge a majority coalition following a March 23 general election, Israel's fourth inconclusive vote in less than two years.
Ceremonies took place across the country, in contrast to last year when coronavirus restrictions forced most memorials to be held online only and when the ageing survivors of the genocide were confined indoors.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving premier after 12 years in power, had hoped Tuesday's election would finally allow him to unite a stable right-wing coalition behind him, after three inconclusive elections since 2019.
The American former president's conservative base was avidly pro-Israel and Trump fulfilled a wishlist for the hawkish Netanyahu.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the first Israeli premier to be indicted in office, was formally charged last year over allegations that he accepted improper gifts and sought to trade regulatory favour with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.
The Knesset legislature was dissolved when the coalition headed by Netanyahu's right-wing Likud and Gantz's centrist Blue and White party missed a midnight deadline to pass a 2020 budget.
Many of the oil-rich Gulf states have been quietly cultivating ties with Israel for years, but the normalisation deal allows those relationships to burst into the open, offering rich opportunities as they try to repair economies savaged by the coronavirus crisis.
Netanyahu's legal team on Tuesday asked the court to allow his absence from the formal reading of the charges against him, despite written objections by the state attorney's office.
The right-wing premier Netanyahu and centrist Gantz, Israel's former army chief, have gone head-to-head in three stalemated elections over the past year.
Details on an emergency government were not immediately clear, and any arrangement would likely be temporary, perhaps lasting long enough for Israel to pass through the worst of the pandemic.
In a sharp blow to Netanyahu, who had declared victory in a 2 March election, 61 of parliament’s 120 legislators voiced support for Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, in consultations with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Sunday.
Benny Gantz does not officially have that title as the country has been stuck without a fully functioning government for more than a year, with three elections unable to produce a decisive result.
Calling the plan a 'historic opportunity' for the Palestinians to achieve an independent state, Trump added, 'this could be the last opportunity they will ever have.'
