The Likud Central Committee approved a merger with Yisrael Beytenu on Monday evening.
The agreement stated that the parties will run together for the 19th Knesset in joint list in which each party will be represented in proportion to its current number of seats – 27 for Likud and 15 for Yisrael Beytenu.
Minutes before the results were announced Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the vote to unite Likud and Yisrael Beytenu will change both his party and the state of Israel.
Uniting the two parties would give him and his party the strength to act, change and lead with strength, he continued.
"Four years ago we promised to restore security and to strengthen the economy," Netanyahu said. "And we did," he stated. He said while many areas of the world experienced mass unemployment, in Israel, employment increased.
He also emphasized that the Likud would remain an independent party. He said it would continue its path, "in protecting Israel and its legacy." Moreover, he said, the unity would ensure that the Likud could continue to be nationalistic and liberal, for all Israeli citizens.
"Likud is for everyone," the prime minister stressed. "For Ashkenazim, Sephardim, the traditional religious, secular, new and old olim (immigrants), for the majority and the minority."
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman praised the Committee's decision, saying it would allow Israel to create a strong, stable government that can deal with the challenges it faces.
The deal, he said, was "a historic and important step that will bring strength to the state of Israel" and provide it with "united, experienced leadership."
Laying to rest rumors of an "inheritance" from him to Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, the prime minister asserted that he intends to lead the country for many years to come.