Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, whose Hatnua party merged with the Isaac Herzog-led Labor Party to form the Zionist Union slate, announced today, hours before Israelis are set to elect a new government, that she would forgo an opportunity to serve as prime minister as part of a rotation agreement worked out by the two in December of last year.

The Times of Israel reports:

The bombshell came 12 hours before polling stations were set to open, in an apparent last-ditch effort to garner additional votes.

Livni said the rotation agreement ought not interfere with her party’s main task: replacing Netanyahu’s Likud party.

The reason for Livni’s sudden decision—the Times reported that Herzog had said only hours earlier that the rotation agreement remained in place—remains unclear. There are reports that Livni first offered to step aside a couple of days ago.

The Israeli financial website Globes reported:

The Zionist Union is hoping this latest announcement will enlarge the gap by which it leads the Likud and the move is designed to combat concern about Netanyahu’s aggressive campaign in recent days and last night’s rally in Tel Aviv, aimed at closing the gap.

Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Zionist Union of panicking, a charge that Herzog denied.

Other party leaders, Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid and Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home, publicly hypothesized that Livni stepped aside in order to facilitate a possible national unity government between the Likud and the Zionist Union, which are expected to be the two largest parties in the next Knesset.

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