Netanyahu Ousted as Israeli Parliament Votes in New Government – By Patrick Kingsley and Richard Pérez-Peña (The New York Times) / June 14 2021
JERUSALEM — The long and divisive reign of Benjamin Netanyahu, the dominant Israeli politician of the past generation, officially ended on Sunday night, at least for the time being, as the country’s Parliament gave its vote of confidence to a precarious coalition government stitched together by widely disparate anti-Netanyahu forces.
© Dan Balilty for The New York Times Israel’s new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, right, and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid after the Knesset’s vote on Sunday.
Naftali Bennett, a 49-year-old former aide to Mr. Netanyahu who opposes a Palestinian state and is considered to the right of his old ally, replaced him as prime minister after winning by just a single vote. Yair Lapid, a centrist leader and the new foreign minister, is set to take Mr. Bennett’s place after two years, if their government can hold together that long.
© Dan Balilty for The New York Times Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before the vote on Sunday.
They lead a fragile eight-party alliance ranging from far left to hard right, from secular to religious, that few expect to last a full term and many consider both the embodiment of the rich diversity of Israeli society but also the epitome of its political disarray.
