Political right winger Naftali Bennett was sworn in Sunday as new Israeli Prime Minister, heading an eight-party Coalition government that ends the 12-year rule of his former ally and hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu.
Though a significant move in domestic politics, not much is expected in the fractured relations between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
Netanyahu, a great ally of former American President Donald Trump, steps aside as the longest-serving Israeli Prime Minister, most hated by the Arabs for his aggressive and hawkish approach in handling the Middle-East crisis.
He still faces corruption charges against him, but many believe that the last has not been heard from the veteran Israeli politician, who has vowed a comeback and a defeat of Bennett’s fragile coalition government, which won a narrow confidence vote at the Israeli parliament, The Knesset on Sunday.
Under Bennett, no major changes are expected in the Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, who have endured unbriddled military confrontations under Netanyahu, under whose leadership Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Given the fagility of Israeli politics, it remains to be seen how the Bennett Premiership can hold the coalition together and what impact it can have on the complex Middle East crisis during its two-year mandate.
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