Israeli
Prime
Minister
Benjamin
Netanyahu
looks on
during a
special
session
of the
Knesset,
Israel's
parliament,
to
approve
and
swear-in
a new
coalition
government,
in
Jerusalem
June 13,
2021.
(REUTERS/Ronen
Zvulun) |
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People
celebrate
after
Israel's
parliament
voted in
a new
coalition
government,
ending
Benjamin
Netanyahu's
12-year
hold on
power,
at Rabin
Square
in Tel
Aviv,
Israel
June 13,
2021.
(REUTERS/Corinna
Kern) |
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Israel’s
new
government
begins,
Netanyahu
era ends
By
Jeffrey
Heller
reuters.com
JERUSALEM
-
The
first
Israeli
government
in 12
years
not led
by
Benjamin
Netanyahu
got down
to
business
on
Monday,
with the
former
prime
minister
shying
away
from a
handover
ceremony
with
successor
Naftali
Bennett.
The
right-wing
leader's
record
run in
office
ended on
Sunday
with
parliament
approving,
by a
razor-thin
majority
of
60-59, a
new
administration
led by
Bennett,
a
nationalist
whose
views
mirror
Netanyahu's
on many
issues.
In
Tel
Aviv,
thousands
turned
out to
welcome
the
result,
after
four
inconclusive
elections
in two
years.
"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.
A
combative
Netanyahu,
71, said
he would
be back
sooner
than
expected.
"If
we are
destined
to go
into the
opposition,
we will
do so
with our
heads
held
high
until we
can
topple
it," he
told
parliament
before
Bennett
was
sworn
in.
The
traditional
handover
ceremony
was not
scheduled
at the
prime
minister's
office,
where
Netanyahu
was
expected
to meet
Bennett
later on
Monday
to brief
him on
state
matters.
The
last
time
Netanyahu
was
unseated
as
Israel's
leader,
in 1999,
he ended
his
first
term in
office
with a
glass of
wine in
his hand
and
affable
words of
welcome
to then-Labour
party
leader
Ehud
Barak,
who
defeated
him at
the
polls.
"Sour,
grumpy,
not
stately
–
Trump-like
until
the
final
moment,"
Yossi
Verter,
a
political
affairs
commentator,
wrote in
the
left-leaning
Haaretz
newspaper.
Asked
why
there
would be
no such
scene
now,
Topaz
Luk, a
senior
aide to
Netanyahu,
told
Army
Radio:
"That's
just
what
happens."
Netanyahu,
he said,
was
"filled
with
motivation
to
topple
this
dangerous
government
as
quickly
as
possible".
Luk
declined
to
disclose
Netanyahu's
comeback
strategy,
pointing
only to
the new
administration's
slim
margin
of
support
in
parliament.
Luk
said the
incoming
government
was
receiving
briefings
from
Netanyahu's
diplomatic
and
security
advisers
to
ensure
an
orderly
handover.
After
holding
its
first
meeting
late on
Sunday,
Bennett's
new
cabinet
was
invited
for a
traditional
group
photograph,
showcasing
incoming
governments,
at the
official
residence
of
President
Reuven
Rivlin.
UNSEATING
NETANYAHU
With
little
in
common
other
than a
desire
to
unseat
Netanyahu,
the
patchwork
coalition
of
right-wing,
centrist,
left-wing
and Arab
parties
largely
plans to
avoid
sweeping
moves on
hot-button
issues
such as
policy
towards
the
Palestinians,
and to
focus
instead
on
domestic
reforms.
Palestinians
were
unmoved
by the
change
of
administration,
predicting
that
Bennett,
a former
defence
chief
who
advocates
annexing
parts of
the
occupied
West
Bank,
would
pursue
the same
right-wing
agenda
as
Netanyahu.
Under
the
coalition
deal,
Bennett,
a
49-year-old
Orthodox
Jew and
high-tech
millionaire,
will be
replaced
as prime
minister
in 2023
by
centrist
Yair
Lapid,
57, a
popular
former
television
host.
U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
congratulated
Bennett
and
Lapid,
saying
he
looked
forward
to
strengthening
the
“close
and
enduring”
relationship
between
the two
countries.
Addressing
parliament
on
Sunday,
Bennett
put
Biden on
notice
that he
would
follow
in
Netanyahu's
footsteps
in
opposing
any U.S.
return
to the
2015
Iran
nuclear
deal
abrogated
by
former
President
Donald
Trump.
Netanyahu
was
Israel's
longest-serving
leader,
and had
served
consecutive
terms as
prime
minister
since
2009.
He
used his
global
stature
to
resist
calls
for
Palestinian
statehood,
describing
it as a
danger
to
Israel's
security.
He
sought
to
bypass
the
Palestinian
issue by
forging
diplomatic
deals
with
regional
Arab
states,
on the
back of
shared
fears of
Iran and
its
nuclear
programme.
But
he was a
divisive
figure
at home
and
abroad,
weakened
by
repeated
failure
to
clinch a
decisive
election
victory,
and by a
corruption
trial in
which he
has
denied
any
wrongdoing.
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