Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The New Coalition Government

---

0555 GMT: Israel. After seven weeks of negotiations following the 22 January election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally confirmed a new Government on Friday.

Netanyahu's Likud-Beitenu bloc, which led the January poll but suffered a drop in its vote from the last ballot, reached agreement with the Yesh Atid Party --- the surprise emerging force in the election --- and the new Jewish Home Party, led by American-born high-tech entrepreneur Naftali Bennett.

The small centrist party of former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will also be in the coalition. For the first time in a decade, ultra-orthodox parties are excluded.

Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid was named Minister of Finance, while Bennett will be Minister of Trade. Likud-Beitenu retains control of the Ministries of Defense and Interior.

Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Mubarak's Police Behind Almost 900 Killings of Protesters in 2011 Uprising

See also Syria Live Coverage: The Saudi Support of the Insurgency
Wednesday's Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Death of Vendor Who Set Himself on Fire

---

1815 GMT: Bahrain. Dozens of people have reportedly been injured amid widespread protests on the second anniversary of a Saudi-led military intervention to help suppress the pro-reform movement.

.

Opposition society Al Wefaq said that at least 35 protesters had been hurt, three of them critically.

The Ministry of Interior claimed "domestic terrorists" had blocked roads and burnt cars. It said two police officers were injured.

Witnesses reported heavy clashes as police used tear gas and stun grenades against youths who, according to the Ministry of Interior, carried "Molotov cocktails, iron rods, and a number of homemade bombs."

In March 2011, the other members of the Gulf Co-operation Council sent in troops to back up Bahrain's security forces, who overran the camps of protesters, including the main one at the iconic Pearl Roundabout.

Click to read more ...

Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Election Day

---

2045 GMT: Israel. Exit polls, announced at the close of balloting 45 minutes ago, indicate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing alliance has a narrow lead in the Knesset but has lost ground to centre-left parties.

Netanyahu now faces the task of forging a new coalition Government with only 31 seats for the alliance between his Likud Party and the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu. Sixty-one members are needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

He is expected to seek an alliance with a new nationalist party, Habayit Hayehudi, led by the emerging politician Naftali Bennett. It is expected to win 12 seats, the same number as the religious Shas Party.

The surprise of the election may be the centre-left Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, which has finished second to the Likud-Beitenu coalition and just ahead of Labour.

Yesh Atid, led by journalist-turned-politician Yair Lapid, is projected at 18 or 19 seats and Labour with 17.

Click to read more ...

Israel Feature: The Settlers and the Politician Trying to Re-Make the Jewish State (Remnick)

Naftali BennettAt a makeshift theatre in the port of Tel Aviv, hundreds of young immigrants from Melbourne, the Five Towns, and other points in the Anglophone diaspora gathered recently to hear from the newest phenomenon in Israeli politics, Naftali Bennett. A forty-year-old settlement leader, software entrepreneur, and ex-Army commando, Bennett promises to build a sturdy electoral bridge between the religious and the secular, the hilltop outposts of the West Bank and the start-up suburbs of the coastal plain.

Click to read more ...