Likud and Yisrael Beytenu will run together for the 19th Knesset, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman announced on Thursday night.
In a brief press conference that lasted exactly 6.5 minutes, Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Liberman refused to answer any questions regarding the rotation of the list, but a Likud source said Netanyahu will be first, followed by Liberman, then two Likud MKs, followed by a member of Yisrael Beytenu.
Both parties denied that the foreign minister and prime minister would have a rotation for the top spot, saying that Netanyahu will lead Israel for ten more years.
"We are before difficult challenges and it is time to unite powers for the state of Israel," Netanyahu said. "One ticket will strengthen the government, it will strengthen the prime minister, and it will strengthen the state."
"We are asking the public for a mandate to deal with the security threats, at the top of which is stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and fighting terror. We are asking for a mandate from the public to continue the changes in the economy, in education, and in the need to lower the cost of living."
Netanyahu thanked Liberman for putting his "personal considerations" aside for the good of the country.
We are not like the fashionable parties that are created for one term, we are a true party that will allow the government to deal with challenges in the best way possible," Liberman said.
Liberman credited the stability of the coalition for allowing the current government to last for four years.
"This coalition was the most stable in recent years and maybe even since '48," he said.
A poll conducted by Liberman's campaign adviser Arthur Finkelstein said the joint party would get 51 seats in the 19th Knesset. Currently, the two parties combined have 42 MKs.

Netanyahu advisor says PM still supports resumption of peace talks
Netanyahu's merger with Liberman's party, and the likelihood that Liberman will now be the number two man in the new party, will undoubtedly raise eyebrows in capitals around the world as to whether Netanyahu is still committed to the diplomatic process with Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. In the past Netanyahu's advisors distanced Netanyahu from Liberman's stand on these issues, saying that the foreign ministry was only speaking for himself and his party.
For the last number of months Liberman has waged a campaign against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying that there will be no agreement with the Palestinians while he is still in power and that the PA president is engaging in diplomatic terrorism.
Immediately after Thursday's dramatic announcement, an advisor to Netanyahu said that Netanyahu continues to call for a resumption of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority with out pre-conditions.
"Netanyahu hopes that in his third term this will be possible," the advisor said. "He is ready for a discussion of all the core issues with the Palestinians, and is ready to engage with Abbas."
The advisor said that Liberman did not prevent Netanyahu from being willing to engage with Abbas in the past, an offer Abbas did not accept, and will not prevent him from doing so in the future.
The advisor said the merger could actually lead to a less strident tone on the Palestinian issue in the campaign, since the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu will not be competing for the same voters, and therefore will not have to outdo themselves in their rhetoric on this issue.
Just as there are currently differences inside the Likud as to the best approach to the diplomatic process, such as between Danny Danon and Tzipi Hotovely on one side, and Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor and Government Services Minister Michael Eitan on the other, so too will there be differences between Liberman and Netanyahu on these issues, the advisor said.

Likud Minister Eitan calls deal 'the end of Likud'
Meanwhile, Likud ministers expressed those differences of opinion on the unity deal.
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, a close ally of Netanyahu, said the deal "will sharpen the argument between Right and Left, but beyond that, it has the potential to significantly strengthen our ability to govern and deal with great challenges ahead of Israel. We will be able to make changes in the government system and in equality in the burden of national service."
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said the large united list will decrease pressures caused by sectorial parties.
Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat insisted that Likud will continue to keep its own values and not adopt those of Yisrael Beytenu, but the move will increase the government's stability.
Eitan called for the Likud Central Committee to reject the union, calling it "the end of Likud and a threat to Israeli democracy."
"The liberal tradition of [former prime minister] Menachem Begin and [Likud ideological forbearer] Ze'ev Jabotinsky is over," Eitan said. "This deal will bring extremism."

Yacimovich, Mofaz call for Center to unite

Meanwhile, Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich and Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz called for the center of the political map to unite forces.
"What happened tonight shows the power in this election. Netanyahu could tell that he was going to lose his job, and took a step inspired by political panic due to Labor's strength," Yacimovich said. "This step turns Likud into Liberman's party. Tonight Likud disappeared and instead there's an extreme Liberman party."
"This is a wake-up call for the entire center to unite and put ego aside," Mofaz said. "Likud and Yisrael Beytenu formed an extremist party that has no hope."
According to former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, it is now clear that this election is about "the future, image and values of the State of Israel, and a choice between an extreme isolated country or a sane, Zionist one."
"I was born in Likud. I know what values it was supposed to represent and abandoned," she added. "The choice should not be between extremes, but between the extreme and the Zionist center, which believes in a Jewish, democratic and balanced Israel."
Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid said the Labor party has been shifting farther to the extreme left and this deal with Liberman pushes Likud to the extreme right, ending the days of "the Likud of Menachem Begin."
Lapid also said it was a loss for the majority in Israel, the middle of the road Israelis.
Shas said that the Netanyahu-Liberman union makes choices easier for Israeli voters.
"Now it is clear to all that only one family is concerned about the weaker members of society and our Jewish tradition," a party spokesman said. "In the next election, whoever cares about Jewish identity of the State of Israel and the prevention of economic decrees on the weaker sector has only one address: A strong, united Shas."