Likud party - The African Mirror

Jun

2021

New Israeli government faces tension with Palestinians over Jerusalem

JEFFREY HELLER VETERAN leader Benjamin Netanyahu handed over power in Israel yesterday to new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett but remained defiant as the patchwork government faced tensions with Palestinians over a planned Jewish nationalist march. Minutes after meeting Bennett, Netanyahu repeated a pledge to topple the new government approved on Sunday by a 60-59 vote in parliament. "It will happen sooner than you think," Netanyahu, 71, who spent a record 12 straight years in office, said in public remarks to legislators of his right-wing Likud party. Formation of the alliance of right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties, with little in…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Netanyahu out, Bennett in as Israel marks end of an era

WORLD

JEFFREYHELLER and MAAYAN LUBELL BENJAMIN Netanyahu's record 12-year run as Israel's prime minister ended on Sunday with parliament approving a new "government of change" led by nationalist Naftali Bennett, an improbable scenario few Israelis could have imagined. But the razor-thin 60-59 vote of confidence in a coalition of left-wing, centrist, right-wing and Arab parties with little in common except for a desire to unseat Netanyahu, only underscored its likely fragility. Addressing parliament before Bennett was sworn in, a combative Netanyahu said: "If we are destined to go into the opposition, we will do so with our heads held high until…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Israel’s ‘magician’ Netanyahu faces final curtain after record run

WORLD

JEFFREY HELLER LONG the familiar face of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has held on as prime minister for more than a decade, clinging to power through a criminal indictment and four elections in the past two years alone. Now, the question is whether the 71-year-old Netanyahu, dubbed "the magician" by his admirers, has any cards left up his sleeve. After years in which he exerted near-complete hegemony over Israeli politics, an emerging broad coalition of opponents could be about to unseat him. "Fraud of the century," an indignant Netanyahu declared on Sunday, after fellow right-winger Naftali Bennett turned against him and…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Netanyahu’s grip on power loosens as rival moves to unseat him

WORLD

JEFFERY HELLER FAR-right party leader Naftali Bennett threw his crucial support on Sunday behind a "unity government" in Israel to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in what would be the end of a political era. Bennett's decision, which he announced in a televised address, could enable opposition chief Yair Lapid to put together a coalition of right-wing, centrist and leftist parties and hand Netanyahu his first election defeat since 1999. Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party that finished second to Netanyahu's right-wing Likud in an inconclusive March 23 national ballot, faces a Wednesday deadline from Israel's president to…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

EXPLAINER-After Israel’s tight election, who matters and what happens next?

WORLD

MAAYAN LUBELL PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's prospects for another term looked uncertain on Wednesday after partial results from Israel's fourth national election in two years projected no clear path to victory. The right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu's Likud party had a slight edge but was in a tight race with a grouping of centre, left and right-wing parties looking to unseat him. WHO ARE THE MAIN PLAYERS? NETANYAHU, 71, campaigned on Israel's world-beating COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but such is the polarisation in Israeli politics that even this could not break the stalemate. Critics accuse him of mismanaging pandemic lockdowns that…