Benjamin Netanyahu sworn in as Israel’s prime minister

Tel Aviv: Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Israel on Thursday, hoping to deliver political stability after multiple five general elections since 2019.

Netanyahu, 73, took the oath after Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, passed a vote of confidence in his new government. Out of the 120 members, 63 voted in favour of the new government, The Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli newspaper said Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. The report added this will be his sixth government, and by allying far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties to his right-wing Likud, it will be his and the “country’s most hardline to date.”

The year witnessed Benjamin Netanyahu’s stunning political comeback whose election victory was backed by an alliance with right-wing parties.

Israel held the fifth parliamentary election in fewer than four years on November 1. Netanyahu and his right-wing bloc won 64 of the 120 seats in the parliament to defeat the center-left bloc which ousted Netanyahu in June last year.

Netanyahu announced earlier this month had said that he had succeeded in forming a new coalition government after intensive negotiations with his right-wing and religious partners.

The Israeli media said Netanyahu’s new coalition is the most rightist government ever in Israel, which could put him on a collision course with many players in the international community, including the US.

Despite Netanyahu’s election victory, he faces many hurdles and pitfalls that ensue from working with his far-right and religious partners, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist leader of the Jewish Power party, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the process of forming a new coalition government, Netanyahu already stirred up a political controversy with a string of contentious new laws and appointments, the report added.

Yair Lapid, the outgoing prime minister, accused Netanyahu of undermining the country’s democratic values as his far-right political allies plan to cancel his criminal trial over corruption charges.