Benjamin Netanyahu broke with custom and remained true to himself.

Israel's new prime minister on Thursday refrained from performing a ceremonial transfer of office from Jair Lapid, as is traditional.

He had already done this when, in June 2021, a government was formed against him for the first time since 2009;

even then he refused a public appearance with Naftali Bennett.

Christian Meier

Political correspondent for the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

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Instead, he heaped a year of malice upon the struggling opposition “government of change.”

The heterogeneously composed eight-party coalition finally collapsed in the early summer due to its internal contradictions.

Six months and one election later, the 73-year-old Netanyahu has reached his goal: he has regained the post of head of government and will become prime minister for the third time after 1996 and 2009.

Netanyahu and his cabinet were sworn in on Thursday.

The Knesset session, in which he presented his government program, gave a foretaste of how future domestic politics will be in Israel: no less polarized than before.

Netanyahu was repeatedly interrupted during his speech.

He was “weak, weak!” MPs from what is now the opposition called out to him.

They meant that the Likud leader is controlled by the five other parties in his coalition.

Netanyahu is open to political blackmail because he needs the votes of his ultra-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish partners in order to be able to rid himself of his ongoing corruption process through changes in the judicial system.

Several deputies were expelled from the hall because of the heckling.

According to media reports, several thousand people demonstrated against the new government in front of the Knesset.

Lapid refuses to shake hands with Netanyahu

Netanyahu accused the future opposition of not accepting the result of the November 1st election and called on them to respect the voters' will: "Losing an election is not the end of democracy - it is the epitome of democracy", he said.

Otherwise, he presented the main features of his government program.

He named several tasks as urgent: stopping Iran's nuclear program, expanding the country's infrastructure, especially the connections between the periphery and the center, and strengthening law and order.

Furthermore, one will combat the rising cost of living and invest in the education sector.

He is also aiming for further peace treaties with Arab countries in order to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In general, "governability, calm and security for Israel's citizens will be restored," said Netanyahu.

In contrast, the outgoing prime minister and current opposition leader Jair Lapid insisted in his speech that he was handing over a country “in excellent condition” to his successor.

"Try not to ruin it," Lapid said, "we'll be back soon." He later refused to shake Netanyahu's hand.

Lapid took over as Prime Minister from Bennett in July.

In the election, he became the second strongest force with his centrist party Yesh Atid.

However, the centre-left camp did not win enough seats to prevent Netanyahu from forming a government.