Naftali Bennett becomes Israeli’s new Prime Minister as parliament votes in coalition government

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Naftali Bennett has become Israel’s new Prime Minister after the country’s parliament voted in his coalition government, ending Benjamin Netanyahu‘s record 12 years in power.  

Israel’s parliament narrowly voted 60-59 in favour of the new government on Sunday and shortly afterwards, Bennett was sworn in as prime minister. 

Bennett, a former ally of Netanyahu turned bitter rival, will now preside over a diverse and fragile coalition comprised of eight parties with deep ideological differences. 

Netanyahu sat silently during the vote. After it was approved, he stood up to leave the chamber, before turning around and shaking Bennett’s hand. 

A dejected Netanyahu, wearing a black medical mask, then sat down in the opposition leader’s chair.  

Sunday’s vote ended a two-year cycle of political paralysis in which the country held four elections.

Minutes later, Bennett was sworn into office, followed by members of the new Cabinet. 

Bennett will be prime minister until August 2023 before handing the power over to Yair Lapid, the leader of centrist Yesh Atid party, for a further two years as part of a power-sharing deal.  

In Jerusalem, supporters of the new coalition cheered as the results of the parliamentary vote came in and waved their flags in the air. 

Meanwhile thousands of delighted revelers poured into Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday night after hearing of the results as they danced, hugged each other and cheered.   

‘I am here celebrating the end of an era in Israel,’ said Erez Biezuner in Rabin Square. ‘We want them to succeed and to unite us again,’ he added, as flag-waving supporters of the new government sang and danced around him.  

‘I have mixed feelings about this government,’ said 19-year-old Tal Surkis about the change coalition, but he added that ‘it’s something Israel needs’.

The supporters brought their own foam cannon to the square in Tel Aviv and celebrated with a foam party. 

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, remains the head of the largest party in parliament and is expected to vigorously oppose the new government. If just one faction bolts, it could lose its majority and would be at risk of collapse, giving him an opening to return to power.  

‘We are aware that this step has a lot of risks and hardships that we cannot deny, but the opportunity for us is also big: to change the equation and the balance of power in the Knesset and in the upcoming government,’ said Mansour Abbas, an Arab member of the new Israeli government. 

But in a sign of what is to come, Bennett was heckled and repeatedly interrupted by Netanyahu’s supporters who shouted ‘shame’ and ‘liar’ as he addressed parliament on Sunday. Several of the Netanyahu loyalists were escorted out of the chamber. 

And in a scathing speech, Netanyahu vowed he would be ‘back soon’ and fight against the ‘dangerous’ coalition.  

‘I will fight daily against this terrible, dangerous left-wing government in order to topple it,’ Netanyahu said at the end of his lengthy 30-minute speech in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament. ‘With God’s help, it will happen a lot earlier than you think it will.’ 

He added: ‘If it’s our destiny to be in the opposition, we’ll do so with our heads high until we take down this bad government and return to lead the country our way.’ 

In a warning to Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah that he won’t be away for long, Netanyahu declared: ‘We’ll be back soon.’  

As the new prime minister, Bennett will have to maintain an unwieldy coalition of parties from the political right, left and centre. 

The eight parties, including a small Arab faction that is making history by sitting in the ruling coalition, are united in their opposition to Netanyahu and new elections but agree on little else.  

They are likely to pursue a modest agenda that seeks to reduce tensions with the Palestinians and maintain good relations with the U.S. without launching any major initiatives. 

On Sunday evening, Bennett opened his first cabinet meeting as prime minister with a traditional blessing for new beginnings.

He said: ‘We are at the start of new days,’ adding this his government will work to ‘mend the rift in the nation’ after two years of political deadlock.   

‘Citizens of Israel are all looking to us now, and the burden of proof is upon us,’ he said. ‘We must all, for this amazing process to succeed, we must all know to maintain restraint on ideological matters.’

Alternate prime minister Yair Lapid, who will serve as foreign minister for the first two years of the government’s term, said in brief remarks that ‘friendship and trust’ built their government, and that’s what will keep it going.

US President Joe Biden was the first world leader to congratulate Bennett on his win and said the United States remained committed to Israel’s security.  

‘I look forward to working with Prime Minister Bennett to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations,’ Biden said. ‘Israel has no better friend than the United States.’

‘United States remains unwavering in its support for Israel’s security,’ Biden, who is currently in Cornwall, UK, for the G7 Summit, continued. ‘My administration is fully committed to working with the new Israeli government to advance security, stability, and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and people throughout the broader region.’

Bennett tweeted: ‘Thank you Mr. President! I look forward to working with you to strengthen the ties between our two nations.’

Bennett’s office said he later spoke by phone with Biden, thanking him for his warm wishes and longstanding commitment to Israel’s security.

The leaders agreed to consult closely on all matters related to regional security, including Iran, the White House said, adding that Biden said his administration intends to work closely with the Israeli government on advancing peace, security and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday congratulated Bennett.

‘Germany and Israel are connected by a unique friendship that we want to strengthen further. With this in mind, I look forward to working closely with you,’ Merkel said in a message addressed to Bennett and shared by her spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer on Twitter.

Britain’s Prime Minister also tweeted his congratulations to both Bennett and Lapid on their victory and said it is an ‘exciting time’ for the UK and Israel to work together. 

Mr Johnson said: ‘On behalf of the UK, I offer my congratulations to @naftalibennett and @yairlapid on forming a new government in Israel. As we emerge from COVID-19, this is an exciting time for the UK and Israel to continue working together to advance peace and prosperity for all.’

Palestinian militant group Hamas said they will confront the new Israeli government that is expected to take office.

Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for the Islamic militant group, said Sunday any Israeli government is ‘a settler occupier entity that must be resisted by all forms of resistance, foremost of which is the armed resistance.’  

Israel’s deep divisions were on vivid display as Bennett addressed parliament ahead of the vote as he was heckled by supporters of Netanyahu.

Bennett said the country, after four inconclusive elections in under two years, had been thrown ‘into a maelstrom of hatred and in-fighting’.

‘The time has come for different leaders, from all parts of the population, to stop, to stop this madness,’ he said to angry shouts of ‘liar’ and ‘criminal’ from right-wing opponents.  

Bennett, an observant Jew, noted the Jewish people twice lost their homeland in biblical times due to bitter infighting.

‘This time, at the decisive moment, we have taken responsibility,’ he said. ‘To continue on in this way – more elections, more hatred, more vitriolic posts on Facebook – is just not an option. Therefore we stopped the train, a moment before it barreled into the abyss.’  

The coalition, including a small Islamist faction that is making history as the first Arab party to sit in a coalition, agree on little beyond their opposition to Netanyahu. 

‘We will forge forward on that which we agree – and there is much we agree on, transport, education and so on, and what separates us we will leave to the side,’ Bennett said. He also promised a ‘new page’ in relations with Israel’s Arab sector.

Israel’s Arab citizens make up about 20 per cent of the population but have suffered from discrimination, poverty and lack of opportunities. Netanyahu has often tried portray Arab politicians as terrorist sympathizers, though he also courted the same Arab party in a failed effort to remain in power after March 23 elections.

Bennett, who like Netanyahu opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, made little mention of the Palestinians beyond threatening a tough response to violence. 

Bennett, a former defence minister, also expressed opposition to U.S. efforts to revive Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

‘Israel will not allow Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons,’ Bennett said, vowing to maintain Netanyahu’s confrontational policy. ‘Israel will not be a party to the agreement and will continue to preserve full freedom of action.’

Bennett nevertheless thanked President Joe Biden and the U.S. for its decades of support for Israel.

Netanyahu, speaking after him, vowed to return to power. He predicted the incoming government would be weak on Iran and give in to U.S. demands to make concessions to the Palestinians. 

He also accused Bennett of carrying out the ‘greatest fraud in Israel’s history’ after he formed a coalition with Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid, despite saying he had ruled out a government with Lapid before the election. 

Netanyahu said: ‘I’ve heard what Bennett said [about standing firm against Iran], and I’m concerned, because Bennett does the opposite of what he promises,’ Netanyahu said. ‘He will fight Iran the same way he won’t sit with [Yesh Atid leader Yair] Lapid, Labor and Ra’am.’  

‘The prime minister of Israel needs to be able to say no to the president of the United States on issues that threaten our existence,’ Netanyahu said during the 30-minute speech, which went past the 15 minutes allocated to him. 

‘Who will do that now?… This government does not want and is not capable of opposing the United States.’ 

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, said the new government will likely be more stable than it appears.

‘Even though it has a very narrow majority, it will be very difficult to topple and replace because the opposition is not cohesive,’ he said. Each party in the coalition will want to prove that it can deliver, and for that they need ‘time and achievements.’

Still, Netanyahu ‘will continue to cast a shadow,’ Plesner said. He expects the incoming opposition leader to exploit events and propose legislation that right-wing coalition members would like to support but can’t – all in order to embarrass and undermine them.

The new government is meanwhile promising a return to normalcy after a tumultuous two years that saw four elections, an 11-day Gaza war last month and a coronavirus outbreak that devastated the economy before it was largely brought under control by a successful vaccination campaign.

The driving force behind the coalition is Yair Lapid, a political centrist who will become prime minister in two years, if the government lasts that long.

‘A morning of change,’ promised a Sunday tweet by Lapid, who would serve as foreign minister under the coalition deal before taking over the premiership in 2023.

Lapid called off a planned speech to parliament, instead saying he was ashamed that his 86-year-old mother had to witness the raucous behavior of his opponents. In a brief speech, he asked for ‘forgiveness from my mother.’

‘I wanted her to be proud of the democratic process in Israel. Instead she, along with every citizen of Israel, is ashamed of you and remembers clearly why it’s time to replace you,’ he said.

Netanyahu, who is battling corruption charges in an ongoing trial he dismisses as a conspiracy, has been the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, having also served a previous three-year term in the 1990s.

Thousands of protesters rallied outside his official residence late Saturday, waving ‘Bye Bye Bibi’ signs. 

The anti-Netanyahu bloc spans the political spectrum, including three right-wing, two centrist and two left-wing parties, along with an Arab Islamic conservative party.

The improbable alliance emerged weeks after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, and following inter-communal violence in Israeli cities with significant Arab populations.

Netanyahu, who long ago earned a reputation as Israel’s ultimate political survivor, has meanwhile tried to peel off defectors that would deprive the nascent coalition of its wafer-thin legislative majority. 

It’s unclear if Netanyahu will move out of the official residence. He has lashed out at the new government in apocalyptic terms and accused Bennett of defrauding voters by running as a right-wing stalwart and then partnering with the left.

Netanyahu’s supporters have held angry protests outside the homes of rival lawmakers, who say they have received death threats naming their family members. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service issued a rare public warning about the incitement earlier this month, saying it could lead to violence.

Netanyahu has condemned the incitement while noting that he has also been a target.

His place in Israeli history is secure, having served as prime minister for a total of 15 years – more than any other, including the country’s founder, David Ben-Gurion.  

As Netanyahu has lost the premiership, he will not be able to push through parliament changes to basic laws that could give him immunity on charges he faces in his corruption trial.

Netanyahu began his long rule by defying the Obama administration, refusing to freeze settlement construction as it tried unsuccessfully to revive the peace process. Relations with Israel’s closest ally grew even rockier when Netanyahu vigorously campaigned against President Barack Obama’s emerging nuclear deal with Iran, even denouncing it in an address to the U.S. Congress.

But he suffered few if any consequences from those clashes and was richly rewarded by the Trump administration, which recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, helped broker normalization agreements with four Arab states and withdrew the U.S. from the Iran deal.

Netanyahu has portrayed himself as a world-class statesman, boasting of his close ties with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also cultivated ties with Arab and African countries that long shunned Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians.

But he has gotten a far chillier reception from the Biden administration and is widely seen as having undermined the long tradition of bipartisan support for Israel in the United States.

His reputation as a political magician has also faded at home, where he has become a deeply polarizing figure. Critics say he has long pursued a divide-and-conquer strategy that aggravated rifts in Israeli society between Jews and Arabs and between his close ultra-Orthodox allies and secular Jews.

In November 2019, he was indicted for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. He refused calls to step down, instead lashing out at the media, judiciary and law enforcement, going so far as to accuse his political opponents of orchestrating an attempted coup. Last year, protesters began holding weekly rallies across the country calling on him to resign.

Netanyahu remains popular among the hard-line nationalists who dominate Israeli politics, but he could soon face a leadership challenge from within his own party. A less polarizing Likud leader would stand a good chance of assembling a coalition that is both farther to the right and more stable than the government that is set to be sworn in.   

Sunday’s vote comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which has grown more bitter in the Netanyahu years, in part due to the expansion of settlements considered illegal under international law in the occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, right-wing anger has grown in Israel over last week’s postponement of a controversial Jewish nationalist march through flashpoint areas of east Jerusalem.

The ‘March of the Flags’ is now slated for Tuesday, and the agitation surrounding it could represent a key initial test for a new coalition government.

Gaza’s rulers Hamas said that the political developments in Jerusalem wouldn’t change its relationship with Israel.

‘The form the Israeli government takes doesn’t change the nature of our relationship,’ said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. ‘Its still a colonising and occupying power that we must resist.’ 

The end of an era: From Trump to corruption probes, how Netanyahu has dominated Israel’s politics like no other leader 

By Lauren Lewis for MailOnline 

Israel’s longest serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ousted from power on Sunday after dominating the country’s politics for more than 25 years. 

Netanyahu was replaced by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid who took the reins after forming a coalition government with six other parties, including Mansour Abbas’s Islamic conservative Raam party. 

Netanyahu became the country’s longest-serving prime minister in 2019, surpassing Israel’s founding father David Ben Gurion, after holding the office office continuously for 12 years since 2009.

During his reign, the Israeli prime minister oversaw the unveiling of the Deal of the Century; signed four normalisation deals with Arab states; and presided over three conflicts with the Gaza Strip.

He also railed against the Iranian nuclear deal, and became the first sitting Israeli president to be indicted. 

Four conflicts in Gaza Strip 

In November 2012, Netanyahu oversaw his first operation in Gaza – Operation Pillar of Defence. 

The conflict started when after rocket fire from Gaza prompted Israel to strike back, killing Hamas’ military chief in an air attack and carrying out hundreds of assaults on militants’ underground rocket launchers and weapons stores.   

An Egyptian-brokered truce was eventually agreed on November 21, ending the war.   

A second conflict came in 2014 – Operation Protective Edge – after Hamas allegedly kidnapped and killed three Israeli teenagers, prompting Israel to launch a military operation with the stated aim of ending rocket fire and destroying tunnels used for smuggling.

The war left 2,251 dead on the Palestinian side, mostly civilians, and 74 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.  A ceasefire was agreed on August 26 and both sides claimed victory.

Following the conflict, Netanyahu vowed a ‘very strong action if fire is resumed’, warning Hamas not to restart the war. 

He also said he was no longer willing to renew peace talks with Abbas, saying the Palestinian leader would have to first distance himself from Hamas militants.  

‘He has to choose,’ Netanyahu told Israeli Channel Two in an interview at the time. ‘It’s either yes to Hamas or no to Hamas.’   

Mass protests then erupted in Gaza in March 2018. Demonstrators demanded the right to return to homes in Israel that Palestinians fled or were expelled from after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.

The protests sparked a surge in violence on the border where Palestinians gathered every Friday. From March 2018 to December 2019, at least 352 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. Eight Israelis also died in related incidents.

Protests intensified in May 2018 after the new US embassy opened in Jerusalem following Donald Trump’s announcement that it would move from Tel Aviv.    

On May 10, 2021, the fourth conflict of Netanyahu’s premiership broke out following days of unrest in east Jerusalem. 

Hamas issued Israel an ultimatum to withdraw soldiers from the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem on May 10.  When the ultimatum expired without response, Hamas launched several rockets towards Israel, sparking an air offensive by the IDF.

At least 256 Palestinians, including 66 children, and 13 Israelis were killed during the 11-day conflict.

Netanyahu later claimed victory in the  conflict and said Israel’s bombing campaign had killed ‘more than 200 terrorists’ in Gaza.  

He promised a ‘very powerful’ reaction if Hamas breached the truce which ended 11 days of bloodshed. He said: ‘If Hamas breaks the calm and attacks Israel, our response will be very powerful’. 

Political turmoil with four elections in two years

The right-wing Likud party chief became prime minister for a second time in March 2009, after a first stint between 1996 and 1999.

He formed a coalition firmly anchored in the right, with ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister. 

A snap poll in January 2013 returned him to the premiership, this time in a coalition with hardliners keen to build settlements on Palestinian land seized during the 1967 Six-Day War.

He returned again to government after winning a confidence vote in parliament in May 2015. 

Two years later, Netanyahu oversaw the construction of the first new government-sanctioned settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1991, in defiance of international opinion.

In a general election in April 2019, Netanyahu’s party Likud won 35 of the 120 parliamentary seats in a general election, the same number as centrist challenger Benny Gantz.

Netanyahu was tasked with forming a government but was unable to secure a majority and instead decided to call another election on September, which returned the same results. 

Neither managed to form a coalition, propelling the country into a third poll – the third election in less than a year.

An election in March 2020 returned a stalemate, forcing Gantz and Netanyahu to work together. On April 20, the pair unveiled a three-year unity government.

The deal allowed Netanyahu to stay in office for 18 months while Gantz, a former army chief, headed the defence ministry. 

Under the agreement, Gantz would then take over as premier for another 18 months before a new round of elections. But, the agreement only held for a few months.  

Likud came first in new elections on March 23, 2021, but Netanyahu was not able to form a government within the month-long deadline. 

 On May 5, centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid was tasked with forming a government, gathering support from nationalist hardliner Naftali Bennett – an arrangement Netanyahu warned would be ‘a danger for the security of Israel’. 

Indicted on charges of corruption, bribery, fraud, and breach of trust 

In November 21, 2019, Netanyahu was indicted by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on charges of corruption, bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases.

‘It is an attempted coup based on fabrications and a tainted and biased investigative process,’ Netanyahu said during a televised speech after the indictment was announced.

‘I will continue to lead the country, according to the letter of the law, with responsibility, devotion and concern for all of our futures,’ he said, standing at a podium against the backdrop of four Israeli flags in his official residence. 

Netanyahu added that the indictment was based on ‘false accusations’ and a systematically ‘tainted investigation.’ 

It is the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister has been charged with a crime. 

The first case involves him allegedly receiving gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy friends, including Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. 

In the second case, he is accused of trying to orchestrate positive coverage in a major Israeli paper in exchange for curbing distribution of a free pro-Netanyahu tabloid.

The third, dubbed Case 4000, which will be the focus of Monday’s first witness testimony, alleges that he backed legislation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the owner of Israeli telecom giant Bezeq in return for positive coverage on its news site Walla. 

He was formally charged over the alleged offences in January 2020 after he withdrew his appeal for immunity – which the Knesset was widely expected to reject. 

Netanyahu has maintained his innocence and denied any wrongdoing in the three corruption cases, saying he is a victim of a political witch-hunt.  

Netanyahu appeared in court for the first evidentiary hearing of his trial on charges of corruption, fraud, bribery, and breach of trust, on April 21. 

Israeli law does not require prime ministers to resign while under indictment, and Netanyahu has refused to do so.

His trial, in which he pleaded not-guilty, started last year and expected to take up to two years.  

A close relationship with Trump 

Netanyahu enjoyed a positive relationship with US President Donald Trump after years of strained relations with Barack Obama. 

Together Netanyahu and Trump worked towards the Deal of the Century – an agreement intended to move towards ending the Arab-Israeli conflict by providing a framework for the establishment of a Palestinian state.  

The deal, unveiled in January 2020, recognised Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank while offering to more than double the territory currently under Palestinian control.  

Netanyahu and Trump presented the deal as a ‘win-win’, but it was widely rubbished by Palestinians, who were not involved in negotiations – and termed the deal the ‘slap of the century’. 

Four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – normalised relations with Israel in late 2020 in a deal known as the Abraham Accords.

The agreements were signed by Trump, Netanyahu, and the Emirati and Bahraini foreign ministers at the White House on September 15.  

Each of the four leaders signed four copies of the Abraham Accords – one in English, one in Hebrew and two in Arabic. 

At the time, Netanyahu said Israel was negotiating normalisation deals with five other Arab states, but he did not offer hints as to which ones those may be.

He later signed normalisation agreements with Sudan and Morocco in October and December respectively. 

The deals were a dramatic shift of power dynamics in the Middle East, where Israel had been consigned to relative pariah status.  

Trump then gifted Netanyahu US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the US embassy there, as well as recognising Israel’s annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights.

Netanyah’s ‘red lines’ on Iran – shown with a cartoon drawing of a bomb and a red felt tip

In September 2012, Netanyahu warned the UN ‘red lines’ were needed to stop Iran from making nuclear weapons. 

In a memorable speech, Netanyahu used a visual aid – a cartoon drawing of a bomb – to demonstrate the necessity of taking action against the Islamic Republic. 

He told delegates the failure to establish ‘red lines’ to stop Tehran from building a nuclear bomb ‘by next spring, at most by next summer’ would be catastrophic.     

‘At this late hour’, he said. ‘There is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs and that’s by placing a clear red line on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. Red lines don’t lead to war; red lines prevent war.’

Towards the end of his speech, Netanyahu held up a board showing a cartoon-like diagram of bomb that separated Iran’s nuclear efforts into three stages. 

He said that Iran has completed the first stage of developing enough low-enriched uranium and that it was almost at the end of the second stage, the further enrichment of the uranium to weapons grade.

Once that stage was completed next spring or summer, a third stage, preparing an actual weapon, could then be accomplished within ‘a few months, possibly a few weeks’. 

Building a detonator for the highly enriched uranium would be relatively simple and easily concealed – and by implication not possible to stop militarily.

Using a felt tip pen, he drew a red line across the diagram and said that Iran must be stopped before it completed the second stage. ‘I believe that faced with a clear red line, Iran will back down,’ he said.

Netanyahu later argued the nuclear deal with Iran was a ‘very bad’ deal that would make the world a ‘much more dangerous place’. 

In April 2015, hours before the US and Iran signed the Nuclear Deal, Netanyahu made a furious televised statement claiming the agreement was a threat to the Jewish state. 

He said: ‘A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel… such a deal would not block Iran’s path to the bomb. It would pave it.’ 

Despite Netanyahu’s protestations, the deal was signed in Vienna on July 14, 2015. It came into force in January 2016.