Israel’s parliament has voted to terminate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure, endorsing a coalition government that has promised to unite a nation severely split by the departure of the country’s longest-serving leader.
Naftali Bennett, the leader of an ultranationalist party controlling six seats in the 120-seat Knesset, was sworn in as prime minister after parliament endorsed the new coalition government by a minute margin of 60 votes to 59.
Bennett assumes office as the head of an unexpected alliance of left-wing, centrist, and right-wing parties, as well as a party representing Israel’s 21-percent minority of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Except for a drive to oust Netanyahu, they have almost nothing in common. Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years under a rotational arrangement, after which he would be replaced by centrist politician Yair Lapid.
They intend to avoid major policy shifts on matters like policy toward Palestinians in occupied territories, and concentrating on domestic reforms. However, with little to no hope of starting any kind of genuine peace talks, many Palestinians are unaffected by the administration shift, claiming Bennett would likely follow the same right-wing agenda as Netanyahu.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, termed the event as a “family feud,” claiming that there are no ideological distinctions between the former and new prime ministers.
“They are basically all belonging to the same right-wing Zionist family,” Bishara said, referring to Netanyahu and Bennett.
“The differences between them have been personal, vindictive,” he said.
