Netanyahu ousted following Knesset vote
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Benjamin Netanyahu has been ousted as Israel's prime minister and Naftali Bennett is now the country's new leader following Knesset's vote Sunday.
© Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
The vote was close: 60 in favor, 59 against (including one of Bennett's own party members).
Under the coalition deal, right-wing Yamina party leader Bennett becomes Israel's next prime minister for the next two years. In August 2023 Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid takes over for the following two years.
On the heels of his first G-7 summit and a visit with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle Sunday, President Joe Biden found time in his busy schedule today to call Israel's new prime minister.
Biden congratulated Bennett and expressed his "unwavering commitment to Israel," according to a statement from the White House. While the two leaders agreed to work together on regional security matters, including Iran's influence of Hamas, the White House statement also read that Biden intends to work to "increase peace and prosperity for all Israelis and Palestinians."
Biden also issued a written statement to the leaders of Israel's new government:
"On behalf of the American people, I congratulate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and all the members of the new Israeli cabinet. I look forward to working with Prime Minister Bennett to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations.
Israel has no better friend than the United States. The bond that unites our people is evidence of our shared values and decades of close cooperation and as we continue to strengthen our partnership, the United States remains unwavering in its support for Israel's security. My administration is fully committed to working with the new Israeli government to advance security, stability, and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and people throughout the broader region," the statement read.
© Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on during a special session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, June 13, 2021.
In a speech to the Knesset, Bennett outlined several points. He said that renewing the nuclear deal with Iran is a mistake that will "once again lend legitimacy to one of the most discriminatory and violent regimes in the world."
MORE: If Netanyahu ousted, what next for US-Israeli relations?
He also added that Israel will not allow Iran to be equipped with nuclear weapons: "Israel is not party to the agreement, and will maintain full freedom to act."
On Gaza, he said he hopes the ceasefire in the south is maintained: "But if Hamas again chooses the path of violence against Israeli civilians, it will encounter a wall of iron."
He also thanked President Joe Biden, for standing alongside Israel during the last operation in Gaza and for his longstanding commitment to the security of Israel: "My government will make an effort to deepen and nurture relations with our friends in both parties -- bipartisan. If there are disputes, we will manage them with fundamental trust, and mutual respect," he said.
Netanyahu led for 15 years altogether, continuously since 2009. Bennett was his protege, The Associated Press reported.
Bennett will lead a disparate coalition of parties from the political right, left and center. Netanyahu is slated to become the opposition leader, the AP reported.
ABC News' Sarah E. Kolinovsky and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
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Benjamin Netanyahu has been ousted as Israel's prime minister and Naftali Bennett is now the country's new leader following Knesset's vote Sunday.
The vote was close: 60 in favor, 59 against (including one of Bennett's own party members).
I think it is time for Bibi to step down. He has had a long 15 years as PM and now it is time for a change. I know the US Republicans will be sorry to see him go, as they had Bibi in their hip pocket for those 15 years. But, the world has changed and it's time for new leaders to take the helm.
JMOO
now bibi can be prosecuted for corruption and go to jail.
Yea....more than likely what's going to happen is the triggered liberals there are going to take a page from the triggered leftists here and look at anything and everything, hoping to find SOMETHING.
And when they find nothing, they will claim they find something, and that something leads to some other fake lead, which they claim they have to investigate that.
And never find anything.
Kinda sounds exactly like our liberals here, huh?>
Oy.
if the courts determine that bibi broke israeli law, he should pay the price. no real democracy should have anyone above the law or imperial leadership.
Always has to be one [Deleted] to deflect/deviate from the topic in order to think they are 'cool'.
Gerkonanaken?
True.
Vey!
Hahahaha!!!!!!!
Haaretz rated the 12 Israel PMs and Bibi rated last.
The groups that combined, far right and far left and everything in between to unset Bibi is a first. It will interesting.
Indeed it will. But, I truly hope that it will be on the positive side and better for Israel and its people. While unseating Bibi was the main theme of the election it seems, it also needs to be in the best interest of Israel and the people, not just a political one.
So I am hoping that the new government can come together and work to improve things that have been pushed to the curb for far too long.
That is all you need to know. Bennett is as hard line right as Bibi. He is also betting that with Bibi out of the picture his former backers will throw their support behind Bennett. That will allow him to break the new government and form a new coalition minus the liberals and Palestinians. I am sure he doesn't want to go through with any of the promises he made the liberals or Palestinians in order to back him.
Since when do YOU have the right to dictate what I need to know or not? Don't take liberties you are not entitled to.
Actually, it's far more complicated than that. While the two years that Bennett is PM Lipid is Foreign minister and can block anything that Bennett tries, they will reverse positions in two years and Bennett will have the same power. Bibi thought that he could consolidate the government after three elections in which he could not so he called for a fourth election in December, held in March, and once again he failed and we have the new government today.
Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party won the most votes of any in the anti-Netanyahu camp, made a series of agreements with parties across the political spectrum to form the new coalition. This included not only Netanyahu’s longstanding opponents on the left and center, but also right-wing leaders who had previously been either ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet or members of his own party.
The far right-wing Orthodox backed Bibi and are now completely out of power.
LOL. That would be the day the far left Ha'aretz would give Netanyahu credit for anything.
I well aware that they are far left, they could have rated him 1 or any other rating but he is not longer the PM and that is the bottom line.
Now that an Arab/Muslim Party is a member of Israel's governing coalition, with its leader most likely to hold at least one cabinet position, BESIDES the already existing fact that Arab/Muslim Israeli citizens have full voting rights, hold positions in the courts INCLUDING having a justice on the Israeli Supreme Court, serve as mayors and other top officials in Israeli towns and villages, serve in the IDF, serve as police officerrs, run schools, are teachers, doctors, nurses and other officials in Israeli hospitals, and etc etc etc, it makes it even MORE laughable and ridiculous to call Israel an apartheid country.