NETANYAHU OUSTED AS BENNETT BECOMES ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER

Benjamin Netanyahu’s record 12-year run as Israel’s prime minister ended on Sunday with parliament approving a new “government of change” led by nationalist Naftali Bennett, an improbable scenario few Israelis once could have imagined, Jeffrey Heller and Maayan Lubell reported for Reuters.

But the razor-thin 60-59 vote of confidence in a coalition of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties with little in common except a desire to unseat Netanyahu, only underscored its likely fragility. Ousted from his post, Netanyahu can concentrate on his trial for corruption, bribery and graft.

Reporting for the Associated Press (AP), Josef Federman said Netanyahu became a polarizing and autocratic leader who used divide-and-rule tactics to aggravate the many rifts in Israeli society.

Those include tensions between Jews and Arabs, and within the Jewish majority between his religious and nationalist base and his more secular and dovish opponents.

Outside the Knesset, hundreds of protesters watching the vote on a large screen erupted into applause when the new government was approved.

Thousands of people, many waving Israeli flags, celebrated in central Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square.

President Joe Biden quickly congratulated the new government. “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Bennett to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations,” he said in a statement.

He said his administration is fully committed to working with the new government “to advance security, stability, and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and people throughout the broader region.”

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