Israelis went to sleep Monday night expecting early elections, only to wake up the next morning to a political deal likely to preserve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government until October 2013.

At a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu and Opposition Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz said their decision to form a national unity government was a "historic" move meant to enable Israel's leadership to tackle critical issues.

"The state of Israel needs stability," Netanyahu told reporters.

"The government's big achievements to date is the result of a tight cooperation between parts of the coalition, but foremost of political stability. When it became clear that it's possible to form a very wide government -- the widest in Israel's history -- without going to (early) elections, I seized the opportunity," the prime minister said.

Only a selected few political figures were involved in the late night unity government negotiations. According to the deal, Kadima, which is Israel's largest party holding 28 out of the 120 Knesset seats, will be part of a stable, 94-member coalition.

While the two party leaders are already boasting over the crucial need for a unity deal and massive coalition, the accord's real rationale is shrewd political interests.

UNITY DEAL

The deal seems to benefit both parties: Kadima's Chairman and current Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz becomes deputy prime minister, and Netanyahu gets more room to maneuver among the government parties and positions.

Oren Helman, Netanyahu's political advisor between 2004 and 2006, told Xinhua that Netanyahu's deal is no less than "brilliant. "

"Netanyahu created a situation where he is the leading of the largest coalition in Israel's history, and respectively positions himself as the leader of all Israelis," Helman said.

Helman said the deal not only shows of a "courageous leadership move, but also brilliant political strategy."

With his new and large coalition, Netanyahu will have a larger space to maneuver, and a stronger stand to push forward his initiatives and reforms.

Netanyahu's constraint for advancing elections centered on a " Service For All" bill, promoted by his senior coalition partner the Yisrael Beiteinu party to replace the Tal Law which enables religious seminary students to defer mandatory military service.

Advancing the bill, which was in diametric confrontation to the platform of another vital coalition partner, the ultra-religious Shas party, nearly led to the government's downfall.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS

Netanyahu praised Mofaz' decision to join the government, saying that "together we will focus on four main issues: a just alternative to the Tal Law; passing a responsible budget that will balance between security needs and social grievances; changing the system of governance; and to try and promote a responsible peace process (with the Palestinians) which will guarantee Israel's security."

As to the prospect of the unity deal jumpstarting peace talks with the Palestinians, Professor Itamar Rabinovich, former President of Tel-Aviv University, said that "the prospects to any advancement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process are limited, because the coalition structure In Israel is only one factor in the bigger picture."

"The U.S. government is months away from elections, and it doesn't want to meddle with these issues at the time. The regional situation is also unstable," he said, "so I don't see any apparent (peace) process on the line in the next months."

"I do think that whether Netanyahu chooses to engage in some tactical steps to calm the relations with the Palestinians, the government's ability and willingness to do so will increase, thanks to the entrance of a more moderate factor to the coalition, " Rabinovich added.

KADIMA'S CONSIDERATION

Only two months ago, during Kadima's primary elections campaign, Mofaz posted the following message on his personal Facebook page saying "listen carefully: I will not join Netanyahu's government. Not today, not tomorrow, and not after I become Kadima's chairman on March 28th. This is a bad, failing, opaque government. ..."

But, outside of Facebook, what was even more clear were polls numbers showing that Kadima was on the verge of collapsing, crashing from their current 28 seats to a mere 10.

Knowing this, Mofaz chose to break his word in an attempt to save his political career with hopes to prove his political leadership in the next year and a half.

Mofaz emphasized that there is a clear majority in parliament for the four main issues on the national agenda: changing the system of government, which "could impact Israel's way of life," guarding Israel's identity as a sovereign, Jewish and democratic state and a territorial compromise with the Palestinians."

"These are issues that the (current) government has not been able to pass ... The prime minister was receptive to these issues, which are part of Kadima's platform," Mofaz said, adding that "I did not seek a (political) appointment. I wanted to be a partner. We sought this move in order to lead changes."

He added that the country's good, not sectional considerations, were at the center of Kadima's decision to join forces with Netanyahu.

While Mofaz signed his part of the deal from a position of weakness, Netanyahu displayed his political prowess.

According to all polls, prospects and analysis, Netanyahu would have become the big winner of the early elections, leaving all his political rivals far behind. Nevertheless, the current prime minister favored ruling power over flattering numbers.

When conducting a coalition that consists of more than three quarters of the parliament members, Netanyahu hopes to position himself as Israel's undisputed leader not only now, but also in years to come.