Israeli parliament confirmed Naftali Bennett as new prime minister: replaces Netanyahu after 12 years in power

The religious ultranationalist Naftali Bennett was elected Prime Minister of Israel in Parliament. His confirmation displaces Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 uninterrupted years in power.

In his speech just before the vote, he called for national reconciliation. “It is time to hand over the leadership of nation and state to the next generation,” Bennett said, while thanking Benjamin Netanyahu for his twelve years of service in Israel despite the differences between them.

Bennett spoke at the opening of the Knesset (Parliament) session, while parliamentarians from Netanyahu’s Likud, ultra-Orthodox parties and the Religious Zionist Party berated and insulted him, forcing him to interrupt his speech Many times. Indeed, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, of the Religious Zionist Party, were excluded from the session during which This government of national unity has been ratified, which brings together eight different political parties, from religious ultranationalists to left-wing pacifists, including secular centrists and even for the first time an Arab party.

“When I see these interruptions, I can’t help but think that our ancestors dreamed of a situation in which there was a state and a Parliament and I am proud to hear the criticisms,” he said. . Bennett, who will head government for the first two years in a pivotal pact with centrist Yair Lapid, who was tasked with forming an alternative government after the fourth election in two years.

Indeed, Bennett – the figure to the right of the new government – will become prime minister with just seven MPs for his Yamina party, although his support for the Change Coalition was crucial in toppling Netanyahu.

“Right now, we also face an internal challenge, the prolonged division of our nation (…). This drift has sent us to election after election, to hatred and brotherhood struggle, ”said Bennett, who since the announcement of the new executive has lowered his usual elated tone and left controversial issues aside.

In his call for national unity, Bennett pledged to “open a new chapter” in relations with the Arab Israeli population, which for the first time will be represented in government by an independent party, the Islamist Raam, and is committed to improving safety, education and access to housing for this minority.

“I am proud to serve (in government) alongside people with very different opinions. At this decisive moment, we held ourselves accountable, ”said Bennett.

For his part, Lapid, his partner in the government and who will succeed him in power in 2023, chose to skip his planned speech and limited himself to apologizing to his mother, 86 years old and present in the room, of the ‘having forced to witness such a troubled government transition.

“I wanted her to be proud of the democratic process in Israel. Instead, she, along with all the citizens of Israel, is ashamed of you and clearly remembers why it is time to replace you, ”Lapid said, referring to Likud MPs and their partners who shouted and reprimanded members of the coalition. the session.

Netanyahu promises to return

“If we are destined to be in opposition, we will do so with our heads held high until we overthrow this dangerous government,” Netanyahu said. during a tense parliamentary session.

In his speech to the camera, he claimed the achievements of his later years, added that a million people voted for his Likud party in the March elections to create an executive and assured that the new prime minister designate, the ultranationalist Naftali Bennett, does he not have the legitimacy to exercise his functions in a coalition he deemed “weak” in the face of enemies like Iran.

Netanyahu accused Bennett of committing “the greatest fraud in Israel’s history” and break its promises to its right-wing voters, something that “the people will not forget”.

The now former prime minister recalled that he had already managed to return to government after being in the opposition twice, and stressed that members of the new coalition “will not silence” Likud voters and the rest of the right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties who are their allies. “With my colleagues from Likud and from the right, we have made Israel a real and world power in many areas, we have done so without giving in to international pressure and without strengthening our technological, diplomatic and security power,” he added.

With information from AFP and EFE

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