File photo taken on Nov. 12, 2019 shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced on Nov. 21 that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been indicted in a series of corruption cases. The indictment marks the first time an incumbent prime minister is being charged with bribery. (Gideon Markowicz/JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached a historic deal Monday with one-time rival parliament speaker Benny Gantz to form a unity government, ending the country's worst-ever political crisis.

The three-year agreement allows Netanyahu, 70, to stay in office for 18 months, during which he is due to stand trial on corruption charges he has long denied.

Gantz, 60, will then take over as prime minister for the remaining 18 months as Netanyahu bows out after 12 years in office - the longest premiership in Israeli history. 

Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, had squared off against Gantz in three inconclusive elections over 2019, but neither had secured enough support to form a viable governing coalition.

As the COVID-19 epidemic intensified following the last election on March 2, calls mounted for them to unite and offer the country a rare period of political calm as it battles an unprecedented health crisis.

"I promised the State of Israel a national emergency government that will act to save the lives and livelihoods of Israeli citizens," Netanyahu tweeted shortly after the deal was announced. 

Gantz stressed that the deal had prevented "a fourth election."

Through the first six months, the government will be defined as an "emergency" body focused primarily on containing COVID-19 and mitigating the economic devastation it has caused.

Israel has more than 13,800 confirmed virus cases, including more than 180 deaths, and a nationwide lockdown has left huge numbers of people without income. 

The deal evenly splits cabinet posts between Likud and Gantz's centrist Blue and White alliance. 

Gantz will officially become "prime minister-designate" when the government is sworn in, stepping down as parliament speaker. 

Under the deal signed by members of both men's alliances, the speaker's position will then be filled by a Netanyahu loyalist.

A key issue in the unity talks was the implementation of US President Donald Trump's controversial Middle East peace plan, which gives Israel the green light to annex Jewish Settlements and other territory in the occupied West Bank.

Such annexations would defy international law, and the Trump deal has been rejected by the Palestinians and condemned by much of the international community. 

The Netanyahu-Gantz deal allows the prime minister "to bring Trump's statement with regard to the realization of Israeli sovereignty [in parts of the West Bank] to government and Parliament, following due process."

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday condemned the formation of an "Israeli annexation government," saying it marked the end of the two-state solution.

AFP