It’s official.
Benjamin Netanyahu is out after 12 years as Prime Minister of Israel:
New Israeli government wins majority vote, ending Netanyahu tenure https://t.co/YqUkqAlvk3 pic.twitter.com/9PyO3Cg9J1
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 13, 2021
World, meet Naftali Bennett, former Minister of Diaspora Affairs from 2013 to 2019 and as Minister of Defense from 2019 to 2020:
Netanyahu is officially out: The vote on a new government has passed the Knesset. Naftali Bennett is new Israeli PM.
— Chris Jansing (@ChrisJansing) June 13, 2021
A formal handover is set for Monday:
Bennett and Netanyahu will meet tomorrow at the Prime Minister's Office at noon to formally hand over the reins of power
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) June 13, 2021
So far, there’s not much of a shakeup:
Naftali Bennett asked Netanyahu's national security adviser Meir Ben Shabbat to stay in his job for now. Ben Shabbat agreed. Netanyahu's military secretary will also stay for now. Bennett will recieve first intelligence briefing after the swearing in tonight
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 13, 2021
Bennett is seen as to the right of Netanyahu:
Few Israelis wanted a leader to the right of Benjamin Netanyahu. Naftali Bennett is set to oust his old boss anyway. https://t.co/0MaCWCX8UO
— CNN (@CNN) June 4, 2021
And Netanyahu was once a mentor to Bennett. Via USA Today:
Until recently, Naftali Bennett, the hard-charging, high-tech millionaire on the cusp of becoming Israel’s prime minister, was perhaps best known for his inflammatory statements and extreme positions on the Palestinian conflict.
He has vowed to do “everything” in his power to block Palestinian statehood, he supports annexing 60% of the West Bank, and he once espoused a “shoot to kill” policy on the Gaza border.
Now, Bennett is preparing to succeed his one-time mentor Benjamin Netanyahu – if Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, votes to confirm the new coalition government he brokered with centrist Yair Lapid. Under their agreement, Bennett will serve as prime minister for the next two years and then Lapid will take the position for the following two.
It was a close vote:
BREAKING: New Israeli government wins vote of confidence. 60 members of Knesset voted in favour. 57 voted against. 3 abstained
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 13, 2021
And there are celebrations right now in Tel Aviv over the news:
Thousands of Israelis celebrate at Rabin square in Tel Aviv the swearing in of the new government and the ousting of Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/vB3GHVDfui
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 13, 2021
President Biden has already congratulated new PM Bennett:
JUST IN: President Biden congratulates the new Israeli government and says he looks forward to working with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
"Israel has no better friend than the United States," Biden says. pic.twitter.com/TPJDbiZEPx
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) June 13, 2021
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