Israel’s ultra-nationalist leader Naftali Bennett is poised to become the country's next prime minister after parliament votes for a new government on Sunday, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12-year hold on power. The new coalition consists of eight parties from across Israel’s political spectrum, including a small Arab party, which makes it extremely fragile. Naftali Bennett, 49, has served as minister of defence as well as of education and the economy in various governments under the leadership of Netanyahu. The far-right Yamina party leader is a religious ultranationalist who supports the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the annexation of most of the occupied region. Bennett made the annexation of parts of the West Bank that Israel captured in a 1967 war a major feature of his political platform.

Source: Hindustan Times June 13, 2021 09:43 UTC