Jacob Erlbaum
Israel Editor
Israel's new prime minister Naftali Bennett
After a fourth and final election across two years, Israel has finally formed a new government. After Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of 15 years failed to reach a coalition, President Reuven Rivlin turned to Yair Lapid and his party, “Yesh Atid” (There Is A Future), to attempt to form a coalition. In an unlikely turn of events, Lapid along with a collection of right, left, and centrist parties, formed a new coalition that would make Naftali Bennett the new Prime Minister for the first two years of the four-year term and Yair Lapid Prime Minister for the final two years.
As this unfolded in May, fighting broke out as tensions skyrocketed between Israel and Hamas, putting a pause on coalition talks. Once a ceasefire was reached on May 21st, talks resumed and ultimately resulted in the finalization of the coalition agreement, with Bennett taking the reins as Prime Minister in mid-June.
Israel is turning the page from the days of Bibi Netanyahu, a tenure that ended with Netanyahu under scrutiny and many Israelis seeking a new leader as they took to the polls for the fourth time. Moving forward, Bennett will continue to be tasked with the everlasting conflict between Israel and Palestine but for now, Israel finally has reestablished its government after a long period of grueling elections and failed coalition negotiations.
Photo Source: Chicago Sun
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