Netanyahu forms Israeli unity government Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has struck a surprise deal with the main opposition party to form a new national unity government, in a move that will cancel an early election that was called by the Israeli leader only on Sunday. Under the agreement, the centrist Kadima party will join Mr Netanyahu's right-of-centre coalition, giving the prime minister an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The deal means Mr Netanyahu will now command about two-thirds of the seats in the Knesset, allowing him to claim a powerful national mandate at a time of growing tensions with Iran and intense speculation over plans for an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The deal also means that the new cabinet will include no fewer than three former leaders of Israel's armed forces: Ehud Barak, the defence minister; Moshe Yaalon, the minister for strategic affairs; and now also Shaul Mofaz, the leader of Kadima. The presence in the cabinet of three former chiefs-of-staff could be vital in securing public trust should Mr Netanyahu indeed go ahead and order a strike against Iran. The coalition move was revealed by Israeli media early on Tuesday. The reports said Kadima had pledged to support Mr Netanyahu until the end of his term in October next year, and in particular to back a controversial plan to replace the so-called Tal Law, which allows thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews to avoid military service. The debate over the Tal Law was one of the factors threatening to pull apart the current government coalition, which comprises both ultra-Orthodox and strongly secular parties. Mr Mofaz will be named deputy prime minister and minister without portfolio, the reports added. The agreement marks a stunning reversal for both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Mofaz, who took over the Kadima leadership from Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister, only last month. Ending weeks of speculation, Mr Netanyahu had called early elections on Sunday night, citing the need for a stable government and his preference for a short four-month election campaign leading up to a vote in September. The bill to dissolve parliament was introduced on Monday, and found the support of 119 out of 120 members of parliament in a first reading vote. Speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting on Monday, just hours before the Kadima deal was revealed, Israel's prime minister said: "We are proposing September 4, after which, God and voters willing, we will receive a mandate. I intend to form as broad a government as possible in order to create stability and successfully lead the state of Israel against the great challenges we still face. But while Mr Netanyahu will be able to claim that he has now achieved his goal of a stable government even without an election, Mr Mofaz is likely to face charges of electoral opportunism. Kadima emerged as the strongest party in the Knesset in the last general election in 2009, but was then unable to form a governing coalition. Under the leadership of Ms Livni, the party refused repeatedly to join Mr Netanyahu's coalition - a stance that Mr Mofaz had vowed to continue only last month. Kadima under my leadership will remain in the opposition. The current government represents all that is wrong with Israel, I believe. Why should we join it?" he told the Haaretz daily in an interview. However, polls had suggested that Kadima would emerge as the big loser in a September election, with the party's tally of seats dropping from 28 to 11. Mr Netanyahu's Likud party, in contrast, was set to increase its number of seats in the 120-seat Knesset from 27 to more than 30.