Benjamin Netanyahu voted out as Israel’s prime minister, with Naftali Bennett to take over
| Netanyahu had been the country’s prime minister since 2009.
For the first time in more than a decade, Israel is poised to welcome a new prime minister. Naftali Bennett was on the verge of being sworn in on Sunday after a new coalition unseated longtime Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. The newly elected prime minister was appointed by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in a 60-59 vote, with one minister abstaining. The ejection of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister was made possible by a band of unlikely allies from across the political spectrum, brought together by the shared belief that Netanyahu had to go. The new coalition government is made up of eight parties, all of whom have agreed to hold off on major decisions surrounding controversial issues, like the future of the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu, 71, was first elected prime minister in the late 1990s and then again in 2009. Over the last 12 years, he has used his time in office to allow the growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, frustrated Palestinian aspirations for statehood and aligned Israel with right-wing leaders internationally. |
