Rivals' Unity Government Seeks to Unseat Israel's Netanyahu

JERUSALEM - Far-right party leader Naftali Bennett threw his crucial support Sunday behind a "unity government" in Israel to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in what would be the end of a political era.

Bennett's decision, which he announced in a televised address, could enable opposition chief Yair Lapid to put together a coalition of right-wing, centrist and leftist parties and hand Netanyahu his first election defeat since 1999. Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party that finished second to Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in an inconclusive March 23 national ballot, faces a Wednesday deadline from Israel's president to announce a new government. Lapid's chances of success have rested largely with Bennett, a former defense chief and a high-tech millionaire whose Yamina party's six seats in the 120-member parliament are enough to give him the status of kingmaker.