Benjamin Netanyahu Ousted After 12 Years In Power

Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer the Prime Minister of Israel. He was ousted by opposition parties on Sunday. He was the longest-serving Prime Minister of Israel for 12 years. Initially, he had maintained that he was going nowhere no matter what.

The opposition was led by Yair Lapid, a former news anchor, who won the confidence of the Israeli parliament by 60 seats to 59 seats by the ousted party. He did not however become the PM. His former enemy, Naftali Bennett was sworn under the power-sharing agreement.

Bennett has long ruled out a Palestinian state and wants Israel to maintain ultimate control over all the lands it occupies. He will be prime minister for the first two years of a four-year term before handing over to Lapid. This will be the first in years.

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Ahead of the Knesset vote, Bennett attempted to give a conciliatory speech, even as Netanyahu’s allies heckled him from their seats. The 49-year-old prime minister-designate thanked the outgoing leader for his “lengthy and achievement filled service”.

Bennett will lead an unlikely assortment of eight parties, including the anti-occupation and dovish Meretz but also parties led by other hawkish figures on the right, such as Avigdor Lieberman, a Moldova-born settler.

Bennet takes over from Benjamin Netanyahu at a time Israel has intensified attacks on Palestine soil, where more than 200 people are said to have been killed.

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US President Joe Biden said the United States remained committed to Israel’s security and would work with its new government.

In a statement, the US president welcomed the new government coalition led by nationalist Naftali Bennett and sought to reaffirm US-Israel ties.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was looking forward to “working closely” with Israel’s new prime minister.