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Hopes for an Israeli emergency unity government were rising on Wednesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met former defence minister Benny Gantz, head of the opposition National Unity party.
Both sides were "finalising the details", Mr Gantz's office said in a statement without elaborating.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition has agreed to form an emergency unity government with opposition politicians after the deadliest Palestinian militant attack in Israeli history, his ruling Likud Party said on Tuesday.
The surprise attack by Hamas and allied groups against Israel caused at least 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, and Israeli retaliatory bombing in Gaza, which has killed at least 850 Palestinians.
The majority of dead on both sides are civilian. Israel on Sunday formally declared a state of war.
The meeting had been delayed during arguments over the role of several far-right ministers in Mr Netanyahu's cabinet, who have been blamed for exacerbating tensions in the occupied West Bank.
The main opposition leaders, former prime minister Yair Lapid and Mr Gantz, had agreed in principle to join a unity government after the surprise attack on Saturday by Hamas, but both have made the exclusion of far-right ministers a condition of a wartime government.
A spokeswoman for Mr Gantz's party said she was optimistic there would be "good news" and that the party would unite with Mr Netanyahu to form an emergency government, but would not elaborate on the terms.
A meeting between Mr Gantz and Mr Netanyahu was scheduled for Tuesday evening but was delayed until Wednesday. The deal to pass an emergency unity government hinges on a formal agreement with Mr Gantz’s National Unity party and a deal is said to be close, according to a source from the party.
Calls for a united emergency government have been growing since the Hamas attack on Saturday. In his speech on Monday night, Mr Netanyahu called for a unity government without preconditions.
Mr Gantz, a former Israeli army chief of staff and defence minister, said he wants a smaller “war cabinet” to be established, including members of his party, but that is on condition far-right members of the current coalition, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are pushed aside.
“"I’m guessing that a number of the fringe ministers such as Itamar Ben-Gvir will not be in the unity government. They may be pushed out or resign because they lose their portfolios. I don’t know about Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – he’s on the borderline, as he’s considered to be more competent and more politically realistic even though he’s so ideological,” Gerald Steinberg, professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, told The National.
On Saturday, just hours after the attack, opposition leader Mr Lapid said he had told Mr Netanyahu that he was willing to put political differences aside and "establish together with him a professional, limited emergency government, which will manage the difficult, complex and protracted campaign before us".
A source close to Mr Lapid's party said that the offer still stood if the emergency government was "narrow and professional", in reference to far-right members of Mr Netanyahu's coalition government.
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
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Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
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Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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