Israel was ruled by Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud party) for 12 years. He remains the longest serving Prime Minister of Israel.
In June 2021, he was replaced by Naftali Bennett (Yamina Party). The country had seen four elections in two years. Bennett’s seat was secured in the March 2021 elections.
Bennett’s government provided stability for one year, but as he resigned on Friday, July 1, he also became the shortest serving Israeli Prime Minister.
The foreign minister, Yair Lipid (Yesh Atid party, which had stood second in the March 2021 polls), has been selected as the caretaker Prime Minister. He is now the 14th Prime Minister of Israel.
Elections are scheduled for November 2022. This will be the country’s fifth elections in four years.
Why did the government fail?
The government had a majority of one in the 120 member Knesset (Israeli parliament). It was a coalition of 8 parties.
It was largely predicted that the government might not last very long.
Still, within one year, the government did manage to get the budget approved (it had not been discussed for two years), and keep Israel peaceful and running.
MK Idit Silman, one of the MPs of the ruling coalition(she also belonged to the same party as Bennett), resigned. This led to the government losing the one seat majority.
This is why the Bennett government had to resign.
What happens now?
Elections are scheduled for November 1, 2022.
Within 2 days of taking over, the Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, visited France and started a discussion on Lebanon’s trade route for Israel.
He will also welcome Joe Biden, the US President, when he visits Israel next month.