Bibi Goes as Rivals Agree to Form Coalition Government
Posted on 06/03/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, often nicknamed Bibi, is on his way out. His rivals, including politicians on Netanyahu’s ideological side of the spectrum, partnered to form a coalition to oust Netanyahu. Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s longest serving leader.
Netanyahu, who was born October 21, 1949 to secular Jewish parents, served as Israeli prime minister since 2009. He first served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999. Netanyahu is chairman of the Likud – National Liberal Movement.
If the government is sworn in within the next two weeks, Netanyahu would cede power a diverse coalition. The coalition includes an independent Arab party called Ra’am (United Arab List) for the first time. Former TV new anchor Yair Lapid leads the centrist Yesh Atid party. Yair Lapid served as minister of Finance from 2013 to 2014. Naftali Bennett heads the right-wing Yamina party. Lapid has informed Israel’s president of his government formation plan. Mansour Abbas joined the coalition to oust Netanyahu at the eleventh hour.
“The government will do everything it can to unite every part of Israeli society,” Lapid said late Wednesday.
Born in Haifa in 1972, Naftali Bennett is to serve as the next Israeli prime minister and Lapid will serve as alternate prime minister, the president’s office has said. Naftali Bennett entered politics in 2006, serving as Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu until 2008. In 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded the My Israel extra-parliamentary movement. Bennett served under Netanyahu as Minister of Economy and Religious Services from 2013 to 2015 and as Minister of Education from 2015 to 2019. In December 2018, Bennett defected from The Jewish Home to form the New Right. Before politics, Bennett lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to build a career as a software entrepreneur. He co-founded anti-fraud software company Cyota. Cyota was sold in 2005 to RSA Security for US$ 145 million.