On Sunday evening, the Israeli parliament granted its confidence to the new government coalition headed by the far-right leader Naftali Bennett, who will succeed Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 continuous years in power.
Sixty deputies voted in favor of the new coalition, diversified between the right, the left, and the center, in addition to an Arab party, while 59 deputies, mostly from the Likud and the hard-right parties, opposed it.
Bennett’s government consists of 27 ministers, including 9 women ministers, the largest number of women in the history of Israeli governments.
The government also includes, for the first time, an Arab party, the “Unified List”, headed by Mansour Abbas.
Bennett and Yair Lapid (who formed the government), head of the “There is a Future” (center) party, will alternate in the leadership of the government.
Bennett is a hard-line right-winger who does not hide his hostility to the Palestinians. He supports settlements, calls for Israel’s annexation of about 60% of the occupied West Bank, opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, and supports all wars on the Gaza Strip, where more than two million Palestinians live.
Bennett is the first prime minister in the history of Israel to wear the “kippa”, a small-cap worn by religious Jews.
The “Government of Change” entails 12 continuous years of rule by Benjamin Netanyahu (71 years), leader of the “Likud” party (right), during which he reigned unchallenged at the head of power.
