Netanyahu Ousted As Israel Gets New Prime Minister After 12 Years

Power has changed hands in Israel after the country’s parliament voted a new government ending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hold on power for the last 12-years.

Naija News understands that the newly voted-in Israeli government would be led by right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett of the Yamina party.

He will lead an unprecedented coalition of parties which was approved with a razor-thin majority of 60-59.

Bennett will be prime minister until September 2023 before handing power over to Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid, for a further two years.

According to the BBC, Netanyahu will remain the leader of the right-wing Likud party and become the leader of the opposition.

It was also gathered that US President Joe Biden – who is currently at the G7 Summit in the UK – has already sent his congratulations to Bennett.

Netanyahu has served a record-breaking five terms, first from 1996 to 1999, then continuously from 2009 to 2021.

He called an election in April 2019 but failed to win enough support to form a new coalition government. Two more elections followed, each of which ended inconclusively.

The third election resulted in a government of national unity where Netanyahu agreed to share power with the then-opposition leader Benny Gantz. But the arrangement collapsed in December, triggering a fourth election.