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Rabat – Israel elected its new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Sunday evening, effectively ending the former PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year run in the position.
Naftali Bennett is the former leader of Israel’s New Right Party Yamina and served as Minister of Defense from 2019 to 2020. Bennett first entered the political scene in 2008, serving as Netanyahu’s chief of staff.
Despite being a far-right politician, some conservative, religious politicians have branded him as a traitor for working with Arab parties.
On June 2, 2021, Bennett welcomed leader of the political party of the Islamic Movement Mansour Abbas to a coalition agreement alongside the opposition leader Yair Lapid. Both leaders support a two-state solution, drawing criticism from the far-right.
Although Naftali Bennet won the prime minister position, opposition leader Yair Lapid won the confidence vote in Israel’s Parliament (Knesset) by a margin of one. Under a power-sharing agreement, Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years before transferring the title to Lapid.
After his election, Bennett spoke on the years to come and said, “The time has come for different leaders, from all parts of the population, to stop, to stop this madness.”
“Citizens of Israel are all looking to us now, and the burden of proof is upon us,” Bennett added.
The new prime minister plans to launch large tax cuts in Israel and has been a vocal opponent of the creation of a Palestinian state.
During Bennett’s incumbency as Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015, the politician announced that Israel must become less reliant on the EU as economic sanctions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could endanger the Israeli economy.
Bennett met with foreign leaders from countries like China, Russia, and India to discuss free trade agreements. The recent election may now see these agreements come to fruition.
Support from abroad
World leaders celebrated the election of Bennett as the new Israeli prime minister.
US President Joe Biden “expressed his firm intent to deepen cooperation between the United States and Israel on the many challenges and opportunities facing the region,” according to the White House.
“Israel has no better friend than the United States,” President Biden added.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel noted the unique history between Israel and Germany in a tweet stating, “Germany and Israel are connected by a unique friendship that we want to strengthen further. With this in mind, I look forward to working closely with you.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”de” dir=”ltr”>„Deutschland und Israel verbindet eine einzigartige Freundschaft, die wir weiter vertiefen wollen. In diesem Sinne freue ich mich auf die enge Zusammenarbeit mit Ihnen.“ – Kanzlerin <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Merkel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Merkel</a> gratuliert dem Premierminister des Staates Israel, Naftali Bennett <a href=”https://t.co/UmOiVitqEn”>pic.twitter.com/UmOiVitqEn</a></p>— Ulrike Demmer (@UlrikeDemmer) <a href=”https://twitter.com/UlrikeDemmer/status/1404149800476594182?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Bennett in an official statement.
“Canada and Israel are close friends bound together by shared democratic values, a long history of cooperation, and vibrant people-to-people ties.”
Trudeau added that Canada “remains steadfast in its commitment to a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living in peace, security, and dignity – without fear and with their human rights respected.”
Naftali Bennett will serve as Israel’s prime minister until 2023 before transferring power to opposition leader Yair Lapid, who will serve as prime minister until 2025.
