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Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Old habits die hard’ – Netanyahu sits down in PM’s seat shortly after being ousted from power

TEL AVIV: Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record 12-year regime ended on Sunday as the country’s lawmakers opted for a new setup led by Naftali Bennett, but the end of the 71-year-old leader’s career was trolled for a gaffe as he sat back in a seat that was no longer his.

In the viral clip on social media, Israel’s longest-serving leader can be seen picking up the wrong seat after which he was eventually told to move to the seats reserved for the opposition leaders.

Netanyahu, who donned a black face mask, stood up from his seat and shook the new PM’s hand to felicitate him. Then he walked across the room to an area designated for the opposition – a place where he will likely spend the next four years.

The disgruntled former Israeli PM also announced that he would do his best to topple this dangerous government and return to power.

Let it be known that the longest-serving leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been ousted from office by a loose alliance of rivals.

Yair Lapid, the opposition leader, managed to take a confidence vote in the country’s legislature by a neck-to-neck competition of 60-59 seats on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, former journalist and alternate Prime Minister of Israel, Lapid will not initially become the premier. The 57-year-old under a power-sharing accord, allowed his former foe and advocate for the settler movement, Naftali Bennett, to take the country’s top position.

The far-right leader and high-tech millionaire, Naftali Bennett, who has ruled out a Palestinian state and wants the Jewish state to maintain ultimate control over all the illegal lands it occupies in the west bank, will be PM for the first two years before handing it over to Lapid for the last two.

Interestingly, the new setup in the Middle East country is an unusual blend of politicians who ideologically opposed each other while the close connection between the Netanyahu and new Israeli PM ended as Bennett who once served as Netanyahu’s chief of staff and had a rocky relationship with him as defense minister.

On the other hand, US President Joe Biden, shortly after the formation of the new setup, felicitated Bennett and Lapid. Biden announced that he was fully committed to working with the new Israeli government to advance security, stability, and peace for Israelis, Palestinians, and people throughout the broader region.

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