OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year hold on power was set to end on Sunday when
parliament votes on a new government, ushering in an administration that has
pledged to heal a nation bitterly divided over the departure of the country's
longest serving leader.
اضافة اعلان
Netanyahu, 71, the most dominant Israeli politician of his
generation, had failed to form a government after Israel's March 23 election,
its fourth in two years. The new cabinet, which will be sworn in after a
Knesset confidence vote it is expected to win, was cobbled together by the
centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid and ultra-nationalist Naftali Bennett.
Bennett, a hawkish hi-tech millionaire, will serve as
premier for two years before Lapid, a former popular TV host, takes over. They
will head a government that comprises parties from across the political
spectrum, including for the first time one that represents the 21 percent Arab
minority. They plan largely to avoid sweeping moves on hot-button international
issues such as policy toward the
Palestinians while they focus on domestic
reforms.
With little to no prospect of progress toward resolving the
decades-long conflict with Israel, many Palestinians will be unmoved by the
change of administration, saying Bennett will likely pursue the same right-wing
agenda as Netanyahu.
Bye bye Bibi?
On the international stage, with his polished English and
booming baritone voice, the telegenic Netanyahu has become the face of Israel.
Serving in his first term as prime minister in the 1990s and since 2009 winning
four more terms in succession, he has been a polarizing figure, both abroad and
at home.
Often referred to by his nickname Bibi, Netanyahu is loved
by his hard-core supporters and loathed by critics. His ongoing corruption
trial, on charges he denies, has only deepened the chasm.
His opponents have long reviled what they see as Netanyahu's
divisive rhetoric, underhanded political tactics and subjection of state
interests to his own political survival. Some have dubbed him “Crime Minister”
and have accused him of mishandling the coronavirus crisis and its economic
fallout.
Celebrations by his opponents to mark the end of the
Netanyahu era began late on Saturday outside his official residence in occupied
Jerusalem, the site of weekly protests against the right-wing leader for the
past year, where a black banner stretched across a wall read: "Bye Bye,
Bibi, Bye bye", and demonstrators sang, beat drums and danced.
But for Netanyahu's large and loyal voter base, the
departure of "King Bibi" as some call him, may be difficult to
accept. His supporters are angered by what they see as the country turning its
back on a leader dedicated to its security and a bulwark against international
pressure for any steps that could lead to a Palestinian state, even as he
promoted diplomatic deals with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and
Sudan.
None of those moves, however, nor the role he played in
securing
COVID-19 vaccines for the country's world-beating inoculation
campaign, were enough to grant Netanyahu's Likud party enough votes to secure
him a sixth term in office.
Bennett in particular has drawn anger from within the
right-wing camp for breaking a campaign pledge by joining forces with Lapid. He
has justified the move by saying another election, which would likely be called
were no government formed, would have been a disaster for Israel.
Both he and Lapid have said they want to bridge political
divides and unite Israelis under a government that will work hard for all its
citizens.
Their cabinet faces considerable diplomatic, security and
financial challenges: Iran, a fragile ceasefire with Palestinians in Gaza, a
war crimes probe by the International Criminal Court, and economic recovery
following the coronavirus pandemic.
On top of that, their patchwork coalition of parties
commands only a razor-thin majority in parliament, 61 of the Knesset's 120
seats, and will still have to contend with Netanyahu — who is sure to be a
combative head of the opposition. And no one is ruling out a Netanyahu comeback.
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