Israelis wake up to new government
Print Edition
For the first time in 12 years, Israelis woke up yesterday to a new government and a new prime minister, after Naftali Bennett secured the backing of parliament and ousted longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The two were slated to hold a handover meeting later in the day, but without the formal ceremony that traditionally accompanies a change in government.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, narrowly approved the new Bennett-led coalition government on Sunday, ending Netanyahu’s historic 12-year rule. The divisive former prime minister, the longest to hold office, will now serve as the opposition leader.
David Bitan, a Likud lawmaker, told Kan public radio that Netanyahu was not holding the formal ceremony with Bennett because he feels “cheated” by the formation of the Bennett-Lapid government and “doesn’t want to give even the slightest legitimacy to this matter.”
Under a coalition agreement, Bennett will hold office of the premier for the first two years of the term, and then Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, the architect of the coalition, will become prime minister.
The new government was sworn in late on Sunday and set to work yesterday, with ministers announcing appointments of new ministry directors. Outgoing President Reuven Rivlin, who finishes his term in office next month, hosted Bennett, Lapid and the rest of the Cabinet at his official residence in Jerusalem for the official photo of the new government.
Topaz Luk, a Netanyahu aide, told Army Radio that the former prime minister — now opposition leader — is “full of motivation to topple this dangerous government as soon as possible.”
Bennett, 49, a former ally of Netanyahu turned rival, became prime minister after Sunday’s 60-59 vote in Knesset. The motion was passed after a member of the coalition was taken by ambulance from hospital to the parliament building to cast her vote, and despite an abstention by a member of the Islamist Raam party.
Bennett heads a diverse and fragile coalition comprised of eight parties with deep ideological differences, ranging from a small Islamist party to Jewish ultranationalists. He said he is prioritizing mending the rifts dividing Israeli society.
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