(HorizonPost.com) – To say things are tense in Israel these days would be an understatement. An odd coalition of political parties in the country’s Knesset gained control of the legislative body and installed their choice for Prime Minister by a narrow 60-59 margin with one abstention, removing Benjamin Netanyahu from the position he’d held for 12 years. In response, Netanyahu used his final speech as PM to claim there would be dangers ahead and promise to regain the office.
Netanyahu uses last speech as prime minister to attack Biden on Iran. Read all about it on @axios https://t.co/0vKOlqszZl
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 13, 2021
The exiting leader predicted President Joe Biden would continue the Obama administration’s policy of appeasement toward Iran, thereby presenting a grave danger to Israel’s security. He also fears that incoming PM Naftali Bennett won’t have the backbone to stand up to the Americans.
One of the coalition members is the Ra’am party, representing Arab voters in the country. Some are concerned their presence could cause tensions within the group because of deep-seated divisions. For instance, in 2013, Bennett said it would be better to kill 104 Palestinian prisoners rather than release them as a token of good faith for reopening peace talks being brokered by former Secretary of State John Kerry. He also reportedly said, “I’ve killed lots of Arabs in my life — and there’s no problem with that.”
The coalition deal states that incoming Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will automatically ascend to become the Prime Minister in 2023. In 2015, he expressed doubts that the Obama administration would enforce sanctions against Iran — even if Israel presented proof positive the Islamic nation was violating the Paris Accords.
One has to wonder how the diplomatic relationship between America and Israel will unfold since the man that Biden claims a decades-long friendship with is no longer in power. Add to that, the two top people in the new government appear to be less than fond of the administration in which he was vice president.
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