A motley alliance of Israeli parties on Sunday ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, and formed a new government in a seismic shift in the country’s turbulent politics.
Naftali Bennett, a right-wing Jewish nationalist and former tech millionaire, was to take over at the helm of the eight-party bloc, united only by their shared disdain for the hawkish right-wing leader known as Bibi.
Beloved as “King Bibi” by his right-wing supporters and condemned as the “crime minister” by his critics, Netanyahu has long been the dominant, and increasingly divisive, figure in Israeli politics.
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In Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, Netanyahu’s opponents broke out in cheers and launched into an evening of joyous celebrations, having rallied in recent days with “Bye bye Bibi” placards.
Bennett, 49, in a Knesset speech before the vote, promised the new government, a coalition of ideologically divergent parties, “represents all of Israel”.
“The time has come for different leaders, from all parts of the population, to stop, to stop this madness”, he said, to angry shouts of “liar” and “criminal” from right-wing opponents.
Netanyahu, who is battling corruption charges in an ongoing trial he dismisses as a conspiracy, has been the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, having also served a previous three-year term in the 1990s.
Being ousted from the top job will leave Netanyahu more exposed to his legal woes, because it denies him the chance to push through parliament changes to basic laws that could give him immunity.
Netanyahu, true to his reputation as Israel’s “Mr Security”, charged that “Iran is celebrating” the launch of what he charged would be a “dangerous” and weak left-wing government.
It spans the political spectrum, including three right-wing, two centrist and two left-wing parties, along with an Arab Islamic conservative party.
– ‘Scorched earth’ –
Netanyahu, who long ago earned a reputation as Israel’s ultimate political survivor, in his final days in office tried to peel off defectors, hoping to deprive the nascent coalition of its wafer-thin legislative majority, to no avail.
Netanyahu’s opponents accused him and his allies of stoking tensions in a “scorched-earth” campaign.
Sunday’s vote came at a time of heightened tensions in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which has grown more bitter in the Netanyahu years, in part due to the expansion of settlements considered illegal under international law in the occupied West Bank.
The “March of the Flags” is now slated for Tuesday, and the agitation surrounding it could represent a key initial test for a new coalition government.
“The form the Israeli government takes doesn’t change the nature of our relationship,” said the group’s spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
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