Bennett Chairs his Final Cabinet Meeting

On Sunday, Naftali Bennett chaired his final meeting of the cabinet as the Prime Minister of Israel. The dispersal of the Knesset is expected in this week, which means new elections will be triggered. He praised the achievements of the diverse coalition and said that the only reason it had managed to make these achievements was that it had united on behalf of the Israeli people.

Fifth Elections in Four Years

The decision of Bennett to dissolve the Knesset and trigger another round of elections brought an end to an ambitious government that had brought together eight diverse parties. They did not have the same ideologies but had decided to come together in order to remove the current leader of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now ready to make a return.

These upcoming elections will be the fifth to be held in Israel in almost four years this fall and are a sign of political crisis in the country, which seems to be getting worse.

Praise For The Coalition

At the cabinet meeting on Sunday, Bennett talked about the achievements the government had made in the one year it had lasted and thanked the coalition parties. These include nationalist parties that are not in favor of Palestinian statehood, along with dovish ones that do and also an Arab political party, which was a first in Israel’s history.

Bennett said that the coalition may have been complicated, but the government was an excellent one. He said that the group of people that made it up had decided to set aside their differences for the benefit of Israel. Bennett said that the government had helped the economy to recover from the downsides of the COVID-19 pandemic and had provided security in the south.

He said that it was the first time in a very long time that communities adjacent to the Gaza strip had ended harvest successfully and quietly and there had been no fires, incendiary balloons, or Hamas rockets. The premier also highlighted that hundreds of thousands of people had been able to find employment again after they had had to deal with unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He said that they had helped Israeli economy recover from collapse and get back to growth and that the massive deficit had been overcome.

YairLapid to Become Caretaker Premier

Since the coalition was unable to function and there were talks of the opposition bringing a bill to dissolve the Knesset, the Foreign Minister YairLapid together with Naftali Bennett had decided to make the first move. They decided to disband the parliament and the bill to do so is expected to be approved on Monday.

When forming the coalition, Lapid and Bennett had made an agreement, so now the former would become the caretaker prime minister until the next elections happen in the country. They are expected to be conducted in October and polls indicated that the Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to win the most seats, but he might find it difficult to form a government because a lot of his allies are unwilling to join him.