Israel Gets New PM As Netanyahu Targets Comeback

Lapid, a 58-year-old former TV news anchor, ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving leader, last June
Israel has seen a record-setting cycle of elections since April 2019 as parties time and again failed to secure enough seats to form a governing coalition

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Yair Lapid has become Israel’s interim prime minister, taking over from PM Naftali Bennett after just one year.

Lapid, head of a centrist party, will lead the country as it heads towards elections on 1 November.

It follows the collapse last week of the coalition which he formed with Bennett. The upcoming elections will be Israel’s fifth in less than four years.

Lapid faces a tough challenge from former PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to return to power.

Although the new prime minister has previously said he is committed to a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, he is unlikely to begin any bold new initiatives as an interim leader.

Naftali Bennett handed over to lapid on Thursday in accordance with an existing agreement to rotate the premiership. Bennett will occupy the post of alternate prime minister until the November election, which he has said he will not take part in.

Israel has seen a record-setting cycle of elections since April 2019 as parties time and again failed to secure enough seats to form a governing coalition with a majority. The Lapid-Bennett coalition temporarily broke the stalemate.

FURTHER READING

Lapid, a 58-year-old former TV news anchor, ousted Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving leader, last June.

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