JERUSALEM: Naftali Bennett, who is the leader of Israel’s far-right Yamina party, has moved a step closer to replacing veteran prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Naftali Bennett threw his crucial support behind a “unity government” in Israel to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu, in what would be the end of a political era.
Bennett’s decision could enable opposition chief Yair Lapid to put together a coalition of right-wing, centrist and leftist parties and hand Netanyahu his first election defeat since 1999.
Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party that finished second to Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud in an inconclusive March 23 national ballot, faces a Wednesday deadline from Israel’s president to announce a new government.
Lapid’s chances of success have rested largely with Bennett, whose party’s six seats in the 120-member parliament are enough to give him the status of kingmaker. Under a prospective power-sharing deal, Bennett would replace Netanyahu as prime minister and later give way to centrist Lapid in a rotation agreement.
“I am announcing today that I intend to work with all my might towards establishing a unity government with Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid,” Bennett said in his speech. “It’s either a fifth election, or a unity government,” he added.
Israel’s Elections
Israel has held four elections since April 2019 that ended with no clear winner and left Netanyahu and his rivals short of a parliamentary majority, with the veteran leader remaining in office as head of a caretaker government.
The new prospective coalition’s diverse members would have little in common apart from the desire to end the 12-year run of Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, now on trial over corruption charges that he denies.
An anti-Netanyahu alliance would be fragile and require outside backing by Arab members of parliament who oppose much of Bennett’s agenda, which includes more settlement building in the occupied West Bank and its partial annexation.
Nonetheless, Palestinians are likely to regard Bennett’s elevation as a blow to hopes of a negotiated peace and an independent state, the long-standing diplomatic formula that Biden favours.
Who is Naftali Bennett?
Naftali Bennett is a millionaire former tech entrepreneur who made a name in politics with hardline right-wing rhetoric. With a discreet kippa and perfect American English, he is ultra-liberal on the economy and takes a hard line against Iran.
He shares this ideology with Netanyahu and has served in several of the Likud leader’s governments, but in recent years the two have become increasingly opposed.
He entered politics after selling his tech startup for $145 million in 2005, and the next year became chief of staff to Netanyahu, who was then in the opposition. After leaving Netanyahu’s office, Bennett in 2010 became director of the Yesha Council, which lobbies for Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
He then took politics by storm in 2012 when he took charge of the national-religious Jewish Home party, which was facing political disaster. He increased its parliamentary presence fourfold, while making headlines with a series of incendiary comments about the Palestinians.
