Naftali Bennett sworn in as Israel’s new prime minister; PLO, Hamas threaten to attack Jerusalem

As Naftali Bennett was sworn in as Israel’s new prime minister Sunday, ending the rule of the longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas threatened to attack Jerusalem.

The parliament approved by a razor-thin 60–59 majority a new “government of change” led by 49-year-old Bennett, while Netanyahu, 71, pledged he would soon return to power, The Epoch Times reported, adding that as part of a deal with his centrist and left-wing coalition, Bennett will be replaced as prime minister by 57-year-old Yair Lapid in 2023.

Bennett is not likely to introduce any drastic measures in relation to sensitive international issues, including policy toward the Palestinians, and has said he will focus more on healing the country’s divisions and restoring a sense of normalcy, The Associated Press reported.

Netanyahu’s support had declined since 2009, and he was going through a corruption trial though he had denied any wrongdoing.

The new prime minister’s alliance includes a party that represents its 21% Arab minority, which has close family relations with the Palestinians, although Bennett is opposed to Palestinian independence and supports Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Bennett is also expected to maintain Israel’s hard-line stance on Iran and oppose U.S. President Joe Biden’s efforts to revive its international nuclear deal, according to analysts.

Bennett has briefly served as head of the West Bank settler’s council, called Yesha, and as cabinet minister of diaspora affairs, education and defense in various Netanyahu-led governments.

On the day of his swearing-in, the PLO’s Jerusalem Department threatened to carry out an “explosion” to push his administration to cancel a march called “Flag Parade,” which is planned to be held Tuesday in celebration of Jerusalem Day, YNet News reported.

In a statement, the PLO said that its violence could extend beyond Jerusalem to the Palestinian territories if the march takes place.

Hamas has also reportedly issued a warning saying it had not ruled out the option of resuming rocket fire at cities across the country.

Organizers of the march have reached an agreement with police and altered the route to avoid the Damascus Gate and the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, where violence could erupt, Israel Hayom reported.

The parade, which is to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, was scheduled for May 10, which was Jerusalem Day this year but was postponed after Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem, which led to 11 days of hostilities.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to the new Israeli prime minister on the phone late Sunday to congratulate Bennett and to continue to strengthen ties between the two countries, The Jerusalem Post reported.

“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,” Biden said in a statement. “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.”

Biden added, “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 Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates also congratulated both Bennett and Lapid, saying, “We look forward to working together to advance regional peace, strengthen tolerance and coexistence, and embark upon a new era of cooperation in technology, trade, and investment.”

I hate when ANYONE (government, school, corporation, entertainment franchise, etc.) pats themselves on the back for how “diverse” they are. That’s one of the things that turned me off from Star Trek Discovery from the start. It’s like slick “I’m a FISCAL conservative!” campaign ads. If you HAVE to draw attention to it and pat yourself on the back for it, it comes across as phony & forced pandering.

This new government was confirmed by the slimmest margin possible, a razor thin 60-59 vote (it was supposed to be 62-58, but an MK from the United Arab List party abstained and left his ballot blank, shades of Al Gore’s DC elector in 2000, and one member of Yamina voted for Netanyahu instead of his own party’s candidate, Bennett). That means the government will collapse if only ONE member defects at any given time in the next four years. Given that fact, I will be shocked if it lasts enough for squishy centrist Yair to “rotate in” as Prime Minister in 2023.

Again, politics makes strange bedfellows. The leftist and socialists voted for Bennett, two card-carrying Communists (Maki Party) stuck with Netanyahu, my man Bezalel Smotrich of Tkuma voted for Netanyahu (ideologically he’s much closer to Bennett), hottie conservative and FR favorite Ayelet Shaked of the “New Right” Party voted for Bennett.

The conservatives were pushing for Ayelet Shaked to become Attorney General. Unfortunately they had to “compromise” so she’s now Minister of the Interior (no doubt she is now a “turncoat liberal traitor” in the eyes of many AlwaysNetanyahu FReepers). On the plus side, the only cabinet posts the outright leftist parties like Labor and Meretz got were crappy second tier posts like Secretary of Transportation, Minister for Environmental Protection, etc., so I’m not buying that they “control” government now (though that “we’re diverse!” pandering certainly doesn’t look good).

The “Arab Parties” that live WITHIN Israel are nowhere as bad as the insane Israel-hating terrorists that make up the “Palestinian parties” in the West Bank & Gaza (Hamas and so-called “moderate” Fatah). A handful of Arab Israelis are sane and reasonable, and a few of them are even patriotic and serve openly in the Israeli army and so on. Mansour Abbas should not be confused with (similar sounding name) Mahmoud Abbas, who is a complete scumbag. I’m not sure which cabinet members are Arabs, when I look at the slate on wikipedia it seems to be all Jews to me (not counting Mansour Abbas getting the ceremonial post of “Deputy Minister of Arab Affairs in the Prime Minister’s office”, which is comparable to whatever Indian gets appointed head of the “Bureau of Indian Affairs” in the USA):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-sixth_government_of_Israel#Ministers

For the first time ever, Israel has an Orthodox Jew as PM. By American standards, that tends to be great news as they are the only Jews who stick with conservative values. Of course, people thought Amy Coney Barrett would be an excellent SCOTUS judge for similar reasons, and it looks like she’s going to disappoint.

Netanyahu says he’ll be back, I’d give that an only 5% chance of that happening(compared to maybe 50% for Trump being the GOP nominee in 2024). Likud stuck with him in lockstep until the bitter end because he was the sitting PM and it would be political suicide to stab him in the back and vote for someone else as PM. Now that he’s gone and doesn’t run government anymore, I expect Likud to swiftly “reorganize” and run a fresh face the next time around.

If I had to bet money, this new government lasts a few months at best, and Israel ends up having a fifth election anyway.

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