The long time leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has lost his hold on power, after parliament voted in a new coalition government. The votes that ousted Netanyahu, saw a 49-year-old Naftali Bennett of the right-wing nationalist being sworn in as new Prime Minister of the country.
The newly elected Prime Minister Naftali Bennett who is Netanyahu’s former chief of staff, was appointed by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in a 60-59 vote, with one minister abstaining.
Shortly after the votes were tallied, the now former-Prime Minister Netanyahu approached his opponent and the two shook hands. Not long after that, he took to Twitter, instructing his supporters to hold their heads high and keep the faith; vowing to return.
“I ask you: do not let your spirit fall,” he said. “We’ll be back – and faster than you think.”
Naftali Bennett will be prime minister until September 2023 as part of a power-sharing deal.
He will then hand power over to Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid, for a further two years.
Mr Netanyahu – Israel’s longest-serving leader who has dominated its political landscape for years – will remain head of the right-wing Likud party and become leader of the opposition.
After the vote, Mr Netanyahu walked over to Mr Bennett and shook his hand.
However, representatives of the Palestinians have reacted dismissively to Israel’s new government.
“This is an internal Israeli affair. Our position has always been clear, what we want is a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital,” a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.
“It is an occupation and a colonial entity, which we should resist by force to get our rights back,” said a spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.
US President Joe Biden has already sent his congratulations to Mr Bennett, saying he looks forward to working with him.
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.
Over the last two years, Netanyahu’s support waned and he struggled to stay in power by prompting repeated elections, leading to inconclusive votes.
But earlier this month, Netanyahu’s opposition came to a complicated agreement to form a majority. Yair Lapid, former finance minister and head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, led the charge against Netanyahu and joined with the right-wing Bennett.