Israel: Naftali Bennett becomes prime minister, Netanyahu dismissed

Naftali Bennett in the Knesset in Jerusalem on June 13, 2021. REUTERS - RONEN ZVULUN

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The Israeli parliament voted on Sunday evening to trust the government of the new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who succeeds Benjamin Netanyahu, in power for 12 years.

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60/59, the vote has just ended. A member of the Ra'am list abstained, as he had threatened to do, which means that the new government will obtain a relative and not an absolute majority, reports our correspondent in Jerusalem,

Michel Paul

. This is a detail that will not escape the opposition. A somewhat wobbly start for the new coalition. But in any case, it is the end of the reign of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Of the 119 deputies (out of 120 in parliament), 60 voted in favor of the new coalition, which ranges from right to left, including the support of an Arab party.

Fifty-nine MPs, mostly from Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party, the far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, opposed it.

A member of the Arab Raam list, who nevertheless supports the coalition, abstained.

In the process, each member of Israel's 36th government was sworn in at the Knesset podium, starting with Naftali Bennett.

Benyamin Netanyahu's Likud finished in first place in the election last March, without however rallying a majority of 61 deputies to form a government.

Faced with an impasse, President Reuven Rivlin asked the then opposition leader Yaïr Lapid to try his luck.

And the latter succeeded in extremis at the beginning of June in gathering a majority by forming a coalition bringing together two left parties, two from the center, three from the right and - an extremely rare occurrence in Israeli history - an Arab party, the Ra'am formation of moderate Islamist Mansour Abbas.

Face masked, outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who becomes leader of the opposition, rose from his seat to shake hands with his successor before sitting down and leaving Parliament.

► Also to listen:

Coalition agreement in Israel: "Very divergent ideas, but the will to take care of the daily life of the Israelis"

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  • Israel

  • Naftali Bennett

  • Benjamin Netanyahu